


Purge of the New Order

by suluismyspirit



Series: The New Order [1]
Category: Star Trek
Genre: Gen, Minor Violence, Post-Star Trek Beyond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-08-23 10:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8324683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suluismyspirit/pseuds/suluismyspirit
Summary: Something is wrong in Star Fleet. Kirk has been replaced as captain, Spock has been demoted, and most of the original crew have been reassigned, scattered to different ships. No one knows where Kirk has gone, and it's up to Spock, McCoy, and Sulu to regain control of the Enterprise and start trying to fix this mess.





	1. Controlled

When Kirk had been removed as Captain of the Enterprise, Spock had, of course, asked questions. The reassignment made no logical sense to him. Kirk had, but for a few minor exceptions, broken no regulations that warranted demotion or reassignment. And yet, here they were; Kirk gone and, though Spock himself as well as many other of the crew had tried to contact him, he was unreachable. That in itself was cause for concern, as well that Spock could find no way to determine where, exactly, Kirk had been sent. Even more concerning was the way he'd been rebuffed for inquiring about Kirk. It was a quandary that Spock found himself mulling over often. 

"Lt. Spock." A rough voice barked, snapping him out of his thoughts and back onto the bridge. Their new captain, one Leon Page, was a formidable man. Burly, with a well-kept beard, he was fairly tall and somewhat tan. Captain Page was human, though Spock had more than once overheard Sulu compare his disciplinary tactics to be like a Klingon. An odd comparison as he was fairly sure Sulu did not know how Klingons commanded or kept order among their crews.

Before Page, the atmosphere on the bridge was serious, but light. They all went about their duties, but it was pleasant. Now though, the tension was thick. And it wasn't just the bridge, but the entire crew, that carried the tension. A result of Page’s reign. While Spock could, logically, see the rational for the new captain’s methods, a part of him was unsatisfied with the results. Though the crew did, indeed, work harder, it was not out of respect. Many changes had been made since Kirk had left, and while they didn’t quite break regulations, they certainly pushed the boundaries. Though still a science officer on the Enterprise, Spock no longer held the rank of second in command, and thus had less of a say over the way the crew was run. 

"Yes Captain?" Spock replied, noting the way Sulu's eyes flicked quickly, with a note of apprehension in them, from the captain to himself before turning steadfastly back to his station. The half vulcan turned his chair to face the captain.

"Where are those reports?" He snapped, not even giving Spock a glance. His first officer, a man no less severe for all that he was a good foot shorter than the captain, was all but glaring at Spock.

Turning halfway back, Spock quickly pressed a few buttons, transferring the requested reports onto the data pad, then picked it up. He moved forward to hand it to Captain Page, though the first officer stopped him, placing a hand on Spock’s shoulder. Spock lifted an eyebrow at the action, but did not comment. He merely handed the data pad to the first officer when he put a hand out. The man glanced at it momentarily before handing it to Page. 

The captain grunted and began scanning through the reports. Spock waited for a moment, not entirely sure if he was dismissed or not. “Ensign,” the captain snapped, looking at a young female, “take over for the lieutenant. Spock, you are dismissed. You too Sulu.” 

Spock only paused for a moment, watching Sulu slide gracefully from his post, shoulders shifting slightly in relief at the prospect of leaving the bridge. The first officer took his place. As the two entered the lift, Spock noted that the only ones on the bridge now were those crewmembers that had joined the enterprise with Page. Sulu had noticed as well and case an uneasy look to Spock. While most of the original bridge crew remain aboard the enterprise, most had been reassigned to different sections of the ship. For now though, Spock kept his peace. Now was not the time to make rash decisions. 

The current mood in the sickbay, however, was far from the tranquility and certainty of the Vulcan’s mind. Leonard McCoy had been on duty for far longer than he would have liked. He, and the entire medical staff, had been working non-stop for many hours and he needed a break. What irked McCoy more than anything at this present time, was that their captain was so adamant in the fact that they should seek for his permission before any respite was allowed. It was utterly ridiculous, the doctor thought scowling at the notion. He observed how his fellow colleagues had become more hunched over day to day from the everlasting fatigue. Obviously, not every personage upon the ship was able to communicate with the captain so freely, so there were several individuals who were hired into a position to "observe" their work. These observers were known to report back to the captain, in what McCoy only assumed was an effort to evaluate their competency. Those who were in leadership positions, such as Leonard himself, who still retaining the position of a Chief Medical Officer, which was very surprising to him, had to personally engage directly with the captain, himself. Ever since Kirk had been forced to resign, things had changed. Work labor had increased ever so dramatically such that their time to unwind had been abbreviated, causing a very unpleasant atmosphere amongst the crew who were aboard the enterprise. The Sickbay had gained much more traffic and tending to the bigger influx of patients had become strenuous. Many complaints had been issued to the headquarters, but it seemed to be that no one was being listened to. The officials had great trust and expectations for Captain Leon Page and as a result of that, their own opinions appeared to be invalid. He scoffed at the thought.

What had caused the doctor to be furious at this very moment was to do with one of his patient's condition. He had specifically told the boy that he could not work for at least two days, but the young man had returned to the doctor, telling him that he had been forced to go back to his job and had to fulfill every single duty before even comprehending the idea of taking a couple of days off. The message this gave to McCoy was that his own medical expertise was being undermined by those who didn't even share his field of work, a field that he had worked very hard for. As a result, this particular crewmember had now become exceedingly sick. It was a requirement by regulation to listen to, and follow, the doctor's orders, yet incidences such as this had commonly prevailed since the time the new captain had been instated.

Letting out a huff, the doctor gathered his instruments before casting a disapproved glance and raising a brow towards a nearby colleague. The nurses and other medical associates were used to his gruff and sardonic behavior, so it didn't faze them too much. He bit the inside of his cheek and frowned before coming to a decision that he needed to speak with the captain on this matter. It wasn't often that he would go to the bridge as much as he used to because of that man. Page gave McCoy a terrible distaste in his mouth every time they would converse. Leonard had learned quickly that he was not to refer to or call the captain by his first name or any nickname at all. Leon was indeed a narcissistic creature.

He left the Sickbay in a pique, with his usual frown seen across his face. McCoy knew it would be wise to try and keep his cool once he reached the bridge. It was probable that he would even bump into some familiar faces again. With all the work he had been doing the doctor could scarcely remember having any casual conversation with a member of the original crew. He even missed bantering with the impersonal, pointed-ear Vulcan.

"Oh great..." the doctor sarcastically muttered to himself as he gritted his teeth in silent fury. "Now I'm missing Spock.".

The science officer in question was silent for a moment in the lift, the quiet swish the only noise. Sulu was the one to break the silence. “That guy gives me the creeps.” He commented, not looking at Spock as he spoke. The words came out of him like it had taken some effort to hold them in. Spock inclined his head in agreement, acknowledging the spirit, if not the exact terminology of the words. He didn’t respond verbally as the doors opened soon after. It was… unwise to speak ill of their new captain. A fact Sulu knew as well. 

Sulu waited for Spock to exit first, Page insisted on a strict, almost archaic, respect of hierarchy throughout the entire crew. Lips pressed into a thin line, the pilot walked beside Spock shaking his head a couple times. “It’s like living in the dark ages.” He muttered, glancing down an empty corridor as they passed. He used to be, not exactly care-free, but relaxed. Sure of his position and job. Now though, Sulu was just tense, exhausted all the time, angry, and that was just the tip of the ice burg. Few of the original crew had the time, energy, or will to talk like they used to. Spock of course seemed unphased, though Sulu couldn’t be sure. Page kept them all so busy he’d lately had no time to really get a feel for what Spock knew. 

Spock’s brow furrowed at Sulu’s comment, though he couldn’t argue with it. He drew in a breath to speak, though stopped at the sound of quick angry footsteps. Both Spock and Sulu hesitated, stopping in the corridor. One could never tell who was around, and both of them had experienced the way their ‘observers’ tended to report every little thing back to the captain. 

When McCoy rounded to corner, Sulu relaxed, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Hey Doc.” He said, attempting a smile. 

A few seconds passed before the doctors mind had a chance to fully register and contemplate as to who the two officers were. It appeared as if they had left the bridge together, and although the doctor had no idea where they were going and why there were here, he felt an almost hidden sense of relief. Of all the people McCoy could have bumped into at this time, it was better he’d come face-to-face with trusted colleagues rather than some of the other kinds of people who had taken residence aboard the ship. 

McCoy stepped over, letting out a dejected sigh as his eyes lowered to the ground. He shook his head momentarily before returning his gaze upon the two of them.   
“Oh, hey.” He returned Sulu’s greeting, his eyes narrowing slightly though his posture loosened. This was a brief moment of tranquility between them.

Spock was disconcerted by Sulu’s response to McCoy’s approached and the obvious relief at it being the doctor. “Doctor.” He said, taking a moment to tear his eyes and thoughts away from Sulu and focus on McCoy. It had been some time since he’d seen him, and was surprised at how tired even he looked. 

”If you’re headed to see the captain, I wouldn’t recommend it.” Sulu said, seeing the temper McCoy was in and guessing his destination. “He’s...” he paused, glancing down the corridor, “he’s in a mood today.” 

”His mood is much as it usually is.” Spock interjected, “but I concur. It would be prudent, if the issue is not urgent, to wait.” 

Leonard frowned looking between Sulu and Spock. 

"In a mood, you say? Pfft!" the doctor placed both hands on his hips, rolling his eyes before focusing his attention on Spock for the second. "His mood wouldn't be nearly as bad as mine if he didn't have to put up with what I have to deal with back there! Can you believe it, Spock? They've got people working to their knees!" Every time that Leonard raised his voice the twang of his southern accent became more prominent. The conditions that they had to work in were unbelievable and the scrutiny of it all was becoming tiring. He was fed up and even though the doctor was not fully capable of reading other minds, it wouldn't surprise him if Sulu and Spock felt the same as he did.

“It is not wise to make such comments.” Spock reminded him, head tilting slightly for a moment as if to emphasis his words.

There was a brief pause. McCoy’s eyes flickered back and forth between the two as he stood regarding the whole situation, the corner of his eye twitching in aggravation. He knew it was prudent to perhaps lower his voice more as there was no telling who was watching. "Next they'll have the cameras in," he remarked dryly.

Sulu smirked at the comment, a hint of his old nature coming back. “That would almost be better than having someone standing behind you, breathing down your neck.” He quipped, though his voice was a lot lower than McCoy’s. He sobered quickly though, looking between Spock and McCoy. “When was the last time any of us had a moment to talk alone?” he wondered aloud. 

”It has been quite some time.” Spock’s dry voice answered. 

”It’s like…” Sulu cut off as one of the new crewmembers turned the corner and walked by. He waiting until the man had entered the lift, and then a few moments more after the door had closed. “Has the Captain seemed kind of paranoid to you?” He asked, voice dropping even lower as he directed the question to McCoy. Since Spock had been demoted, the doctor was the only one he knew that had any sort of direct contact with the Captain on a regular basis. At least, he was the only one who Sulu could trust enough to ask that question anyway. 

Paranoid wasn’t quite exactly the word Sulu was looking for, but he couldn’t think of anything else for it. Spock lifted an eyebrow, thinking back to the interaction between himself and the first officer on the bridge. It was an… interesting theory. 

Suspicious eyes lingered on the sudden crewmember that walked by. "Now /I'm/ becoming the paranoid one," the doctor murmured after the unknown individual got into the lift and was no longer present.

The doctor scoffed, expressing his indignation in response to Sulu's comment. They were all constantly being watched as if the leaders were worried that something terrible was going to happen such as a rebellion of some kind, or it was down to the sheer fact that they had no longer any trust for any crewmember. Deep down inside, McCoy wished something would happen to put a stop to this silly behavior since he didn't recall signing up for any of this. It was bad enough having to be out here as it was.

If, however, the captain was paranoid, then that would be a reasonable explanation for the purpose of the observers. The doctor thought it would have been more rational if they were to have had the captain receive a medical examination from him to determine this outrageous cause. 

There was a chirp on Sulu and McCoy's communicators, a short message summoning them to the captain’s briefing room for an emergency meeting. The senior officers were required to carry them on their person at ALL times, an order that Bones was very unhappy with. They were also required to respond to the orders from the communicator, whether on duty or not.

The announcement was short, as all calls to meetings had been since Kirk left. It was how all announcements or orders were done now. Short and to the point. Sulu glanced at Spock. Like the last few meeting he'd not been included. Sulu didn't know why Captain Page was leaving him out, whether intentional or just to make sure his chosen first officer didn't feel threatened. Or perhaps both? It was difficult to tell, he didn't know much of anything about Page, other than that he didn't like him. 

"Meeting." Sulu said, half shrugging in apology to Spock. He wasn't thrilled at how Spock was being more or less bumped down the hierarchy. How all of them were, once he really thought about it. Sulu was pretty certain that he wouldn't be included in these meeting either, soon enough. He glanced over at McCoy, wondering if he’d gotten the same message, though he was pretty sure that was an affirmative.

The doctor gave Sulu a frustrated look, confirming his receipt of the transmission. 

”Of course.” Spock said, inclining his head to both of them. “I have additional duties I must attend to in any case.” Which, Sulu imagined, was true of most every crewmember. Though it seemed as if those extra duties fell heaviest on the original enterprise members and not those that Page had drafted onto the ship personally. 

Leonard couldn't help but snort in disgust and understanding after hearing Spock's declaration of having to complete additional duties. It appeared that it wasn't just the doctor who was being made to work vigorously and he felt an inkling of pity for the Vulcan.

Sulu watched as Spock stepped around them, walking down the corridor and turning out of sight. “Well, that wasn’t awkward.” He said wryly, sighing briefly. “Shall we?” he gestured toward the lift, letting McCoy lead the way. 

McCoy moved his gaze back over to the Asian. These meetings were pivotal and in all honesty, the doctor was never sure what to expect. All medical records were up to date and commissioned in the correct manner so there was no need in worrying about that. He raised a brow at Sulu knowing very well how awkward the situation just then had felt. Leonard knew that the pilot wasn't too excited for attending these meetings either.

Together they stepped into the lift and the doors closed behind them. Standing side-by-side the doctor couldn't help but allow one last sarcastic comment to escape before entering the room.

"Oh how I just can't _wait_ for this."


	2. Plans

As the pilot and CMO entered the meeting room, Leon stood watching as the officers filed in. Neither Sulu nor McCoy noticed his dark eyes narrowing at the sight of them. He'd thought they'd been bumped off the list by this point, he'd whittled the original crew out of top positions one by one. McCoy he supposed wasn't a problem, or a surprise. It was difficult to find a better doctor. Sulu however should not have gotten the invite. There wasn't much he could do at it at this point however. He glowered over at his first officer for a moment, it was his responsibility for moving the crew into key positions after all. The man held his gaze for a moment before dropping his eyes. This complicated the meeting, but Page had important information to distribute to his people. They’d just have to catch the drift through a slight layer of code. 

Needless to say, it wasn’t the warmest welcome Leonard had ever experienced before. As the staff were settling in, he took note of the captain’s short and sour attitude. He didn’t mind those who had a bit of a backbone, hell he’d gotten along with Kirk after all, but McCoy currently had to deal with his own inner demons and negative feelings right now. He wanted to consult with the captain about the issues with the crew, and was even willing to refer to Leon as ‘Sir’ again if it would assistance in fixing the problem, but it seemed impossible.

Leon waited until everyone had their seats, looking around. When his gaze crossed Sulu and McCoy, his lips pressed together slightly, the only indication of his distaste. “New orders from Headquarters.” He barked out, pressing a few buttons. The room darkened and a diagram of space popped up, star systems planets, and a clearly marked path between worlds. “We’ve received word of plots against Star Fleet.” He began, pointing out the different planets that had bases on them, mindful of McCoy and Sulu’s presence. They needed this ship, but they had to be careful. It wasn’t too difficult, getting the information across without tipping off exactly WHAT they were going after. “Needless to say, our orders are to go in and deal with it. You all are to stay at your posts and wait for further instructions.” He instructed as he closed out the map, lights brightening. “Sulu, you’re being reassigned.” He said, not the first time the pilot had heard those words, gesturing to the first officer, who in turn handed him a data pad with his new position. 

McCoy furrowed his eyebrows at that news. He was shocked and displeased to learn of this, and so suddenly at that. Sulu was a hard-worker and a friend with earnest motivation; they were all tough and rigorous in doing their jobs. The captain should know, after all, as they were all being continuously evaluated and watched at all times.

Sulu frowned, having not particularly liked, nor caught the exact nature of these new orders from starfleet. He accepted the data pad, however, and scanned through it. He looked up to ask Page about it, but the captain already barked a quick ‘dismissed’ and turned to leave, the first officer and Sulu’s replacement flanking him. Going by the look on the first officer’s face, questions were not going to go over well. One of Page’s lieutenants jogged to catch up to him, talking quickly in a hushed tone, timing and medical being the only words that drifted far enough for Sulu to hear. 

Sulu held back a sigh, resisting the urge to throw down the datapad. There were still other officers in the room after all. Page had all but talked in circles, so far as he was concerned. Nothing concrete, but some of the looks he’d been giving to a few of the other officers was… off.

Normally the doctor would have spoken up but this room was so tense and quiet as the captain spoke that only a fool would dare to do such a thing in this particular case. Leonard also felt for some odd reason that all would turn on him if he was to make a comment but the medical officer had decided not to. He was beginning to expect himself to be reassigned as well but nothing was said. Perhaps it was down to the fact that he was a doctor and certain medical positions were limited. He mused at the thought that there was a possibility that maybe Leon didn't mind him. The captain could just ignore his presence all he wanted to but McCoy knew that if the man came encountered a period of physical distress, he would be called to resolve the situation. That was the problem with some people, according to McCoy; doctors were often viewed as harmless healers that were to be placed to the side until they were needed. Well, down in the Sickbay there were definitely a lot of medical personnel whose immediate presence was essential.

The doctor felt compelled to walk up to the captain, if for nothing else than the issues in sickbay, but he couldn't find the right approach without angering the leader even more. McCoy pursued to question whether talking to the captain now would help or harm the predicament. He had to be smart about this since it wasn't just him who was involved.  
Sulu sent McCoy a helpless look, glancing down at his new orders once then back to McCoy. Ever since Spock had been reassigned it had gone downhill since then, as if the team were an unstable row of dominoes.

Sulu led the way to the lift, keeping quite during the ride until the two other officers that had entered with them got off on different levels. When one of them gave him an odd look, as if to ask why he wasn’t immediately reporting to his new post, he coughed a little, telling the man he needed to visit sickbay first. As soon as he and McCoy were alone, he looked over at the doctor. “Think it’ll be safe to talk there?” he asked, whispering without even really realizing it. 

If he wasn’t paranoid, or suspicious about the current predicament before, he certainly was now. The order’s he’d gotten looked legitimate, but Sulu couldn’t understand how it had happened. No warning. It couldn’t be right, couldn’t be above board. His record was clear, so something had to be going on. And it wasn’t exactly safe to discuss it openly, but Sulu needed to be sure it wasn’t just him. 

McCoy looked over to the Asian and shrugged in response to the question. He didn't know what place around here was safe anymore and wouldn't be surprised if somehow they had all been tapped with some undisclosed, technological listening device. Considering how they were all expected to return to their posts after meetings and how there was a chance that anyone could walk in at any time, Leonard shifted uneasily. 

”Should probably invite Spock to this one though.” He tried at a joke, taking the communicator out and turning it over in his palm. They weren’t supposed to use it for non-emergencies, captain’s orders, and Sulu knew the captain would certainly not approve. Page hadn’t gone so far as to forbid them to meet up with each other, but somehow he’d made it near impossible for the original enterprise crew to spend any downtime together. Pressing his lips together, Sulu opened the communicator, sending a quick and secure message to Spock before tucking the thing away again. They only had a few hours until they reached the first planet after all. “It’s not like it can get any worse.” He muttered, more to himself than as an excuse to McCoy. 

Once back in his own domain, McCoy set about organizing the staff, clearing out a section of the room for himself and Sulu. And the hobgoblin, should he ever decide to grace them with his presence. He hoped for Spock's arrival to come sooner rather than later. Remembering Sulu’s jest brought a thought to mind. What if he was the only one to attend the next scheduled meeting? Would there be any way they could use that to their advantage?

He crossed his arms and scoffed. Things were going terrible for them and they hadn't even heard any news with what was happening to their other colleagues. 

"Spock is sure taking his time to come down here.” McCoy worried. “If we get caught then imagine what that's going to bring." He paused. "We'll all be getting more than just new data pads."

Sulu hadn’t stop pacing since Bones had cleared the room, and the doctor’s comments weren’t easing his nerves any at all. “You don’t think they’d kick us out of Starfleet?” he asked, grimacing as he paused his pacing for a second before resuming with a short little groan of frustration. Who was he kidding, of course Page would.

Spock did, in fact, have duties assigned to him by the captain to complete. They were however, fairly easy to accomplish for him. Captain Page seemed not to have much experience with Vulcans if this work was meant to keep him busy. Having completed his 'busy work', Spock went about some research of his own. There were too many questions that needed answered, and yet another meeting? The contents of the past few meeting had not been made known to the crew as a whole, so Spock could only deduce that this would be no different. Though Sulu and McCoy were in attendance, they'd never been allowed to share the information before. Somehow he managed to find a moment alone in one of the science labs, for all the he'd completed his work he did not have to time to return to his quarters. Once he'd secured and encoded one of the workstations, he checked on some of the inquiries he'd sent out. He wasn't particularly pleased with what he found. A short chirp alerted him to a message, odd since he’d received hardly any since his demotion, odder still that it was from Sulu. Something must have happened. He deleted the information he’d collected from the computers, knowing it was dangerous even to transfer it somewhere else. Spock then left the station, nodding politely to two ensigns and an observer as they entered, and headed to sickbay. 

The Vulcan entered sickback, finding the room Sulu and McCoy were in fairly easily. It was the only room not bustling with activity. 

“Finally.” Sulu couldn’t help saying, seeing Spock approaching. 

”I apologize for the delay.” Spock said, coming to stand in front of them both. “For what reason are we meeting like this?” He didn’t mention the dangers in such a meeting, judging by their expressions and stance, both knew of the risk.

Wordlessly, Sulu handed Spock the data pad he’d been given. It wasn’t a surprise, the demotion, not really, but in a way it was. And all the things the captain had said during the meeting. Wasn’t this supposed to be a science vessel? Exploring space, not going out to ‘deal with’ so called ‘threats’ to the Federation. The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.

Spock frowned, tilting his head slightly at the news of Sulu's demotion. His own he could understand. It was logical. He'd been warned to drop a line of inquiry, not heeding that warning had warranted disciplinary action, however 'unfair' the others had deemed it. As far as he had been aware, Sulu had done nothing of that nature. "For what reason have you been reassigned?" he asked. 

Sulu just sighed, shaking his head. "No one else ever knew, stand to reason I wouldn't either when the time came. But that's not what really bothers me. Doc, I'm not the only one with concerns about that meeting am I?" He asked, turning to look at McCoy for support. He’d working himself up enough over the whole transfer thing already, and he hadn’t even gotten to the actual contents of the meeting. "Hardly any of those 'orders' he was talking about sounding anything like what Starfleet does."

"The meeting made no sense in my books," McCoy replied supporting the other's statement. "Things were not clarified nor were the commands clear." He remembered the facial expressions of the other members present in the room during the meeting and how they were hard and sore with concentration, as if a message was trying to be conveyed to all of them yet it was difficult to understand. There was no doubt that he hadn't picked up on anything specific besides being told to go in and dealing with it while awaiting orders and further instruction as commanded to do so. He couldn't recall any mention of peaceful negotiations or talk with those who threatened them. Peace is what they were supposed to be standing for.

"Funny they can demote someone so easily, without explanation I might add, and run a meeting with a similar amount of explanation." McCoy complained, leaning forward against a panel in frustration. 

Spock listed to the two of them explaining what had occurred during the meeting. It didn't so much answer the question that Spock had so much as it explained some of the things he already knew. "I have some concerns as well. The change of power has not been focused on the enterprise alone. It appears that there has been a division in the command at Starfleet." Spock told them, speaking quickly and quietly to them. There was no way to tell how long they would have, and it was best to get as much information passed along as he could now. There may not be a next time. "This ship is more advanced than many others in the fleet. I believe Kirk's transfer was planned, and our inability to contact him planned. Ships in the fleet are being taken, slowly, by a faction of commanders at Starfleet. For what purpose, I am unsure. One thing I am sure of, Jim was looking into this before he disappeared." That Kirk had disappeared, Spock was certain, there was no other reason why he would be so unreachable. The only question was whether he was hiding, or had been taken. 

McCoy rubbed his temples, trying to everything that was being said, especially when it was Spock who was the one speaking. That pointed-ear Vulcan's way of speech made Chekov's seem more digestible. He was trying to put any pieces he could find together into a somewhat cognitive puzzle that was going on in his head. "Anyone with common sense would have seen that, Spock," he snapped waving his hand in the air gesturing in frustration. Of course Kirk's departure had been planned by those who were currently working behind the scenes of the cause.

What bothered him the most, was that there were other ships in the fleet that were being extracted from the scene. There were innocent people out there aboard those spacecraft whose lifestyles were going to be meddled and tampered with, if not so already.

"They're going to be missing me soon." Sulu said, glancing nervously at the door. "New post and all. We've got about another hour before we reach the first planet. Page's people will be busy then, we might be able to meet again, make a plan?" He could hardly believe what he was saying. Make a plan? And since when was the crew divided into their people and Pages? It sounded dangerously close to mutiny to him. He shook his head, leaving sickbay on the way to his new post. 

What he saw on the way wasn’t exactly comforting, though he kept his eyes front. Pages men, as he couldn’t think of them any other way at this point, moved with purpose, a harsh set to their features as they prepared for something. The rest of the crew plodded along much as usual, most just trying to keep out of the way. None of it looked like the any sort of peaceable solution, more like a military preparing for war. Sulu barely glanced at the observer watching them as he took up his new station. Somehow he’d have to come up with a way to leave early. 

Not long after Sulu had left McCoy realized that it was now just Spock and him who were together in the room. Great. It was like being alone with an insentient computer that was animate yet inanimate at the same time.

Spock watched Sulu leave before turning to McCoy. “I do not have any duties for the next few hours. I will attempt to find a suitable place to speak.” He turned to leave, but hesitated. Though he already knew the answer, he asked anyway. "Doctor, did any of your inquiries or attempts to contact Jim reveal any indication of his whereabouts?" If they were going to have any hope of setting things right, Spock knew they'd need Kirk and his particular blend of luck and expertise. Though his own search had proved fruitless, McCoy had access to different resources than he did. 

"Don't you think I've tried enough of that already, Mister Spock?" he casted an incredulous look at the other, the words escaping his mouth as if they were bitter to the tongue. "Surely your perfectlogic would have told you that I would have said something by now if it were the case." As far as McCoy knew he had tried every possible option that would give any evidence of Jim's whereabouts. It angered him that had yet to find any significant evidence of the transfer and the shrewd other was now asking him impractical questions that the doctor was sure he already knew the answer to. 

”He was my friend as well Doctor McCoy.” Spock reminded him, turning halfway to look at the medic. “Even the slightest indication would be valuable, as none of my sources have been of any use.” The door to sickbay opened then, two redshirted crew members supporting a third in between them, limping their way in. Spock nodded and left, leaving McCoy to work. Undoubtedly he would soon receive orders to prepare sickbay to some specification if the captain’s plans followed their logical conclusion. 

The Vulcan had hardly reached his quarters before his communicator chirped, this time containing orders from the first officer. He was to report to a station in engineering and remain there for the duration of the mission. The posting made no sense, he was a science officer. It was a crude way of keeping him out of the way, but no less effective. If he and the others were to figure out a way to deal with things, he would need to appear to be following the rules. He might have been out of the way, but he was also unobserved, thus able to manipulate the duty roster, giving himself, McCoy, and Sulu a short time slot of downtime. Spock could not get them time before the mission, nor during while the enterprise was orbiting the planet. He settled for his only option, a short time after the mission was complete. Time enough for reports to be handed in and shifts to change. He didn't want to risk including any others. He sent both the meeting place and time, a private, if somewhat cramped, storage bay on the lower decks. It was up to each of them to make it there.

Sulu received an update to his schedule, and almost immediately after a message from Spock as to the time and place they were to meet. He almost wanted to laugh, so much for all his worry about finding a way to slip away. Somehow Spock had managed to line up the end of his shift for the meeting time. It certainly wasn't chance. 

After Spock had left, McCoy proceeded to look at a few new patients enter into the infirmary. The doctor knew that it meant more work, but it had become such a tradition to care for the sick and injured that it had become second nature to him. His job was his life and as far as he knew he couldn't think of any other purpose he might have had.  
It wasn’t long before he received orders to prepare sickbay, though those orders didn’t say for what. Not that Leonard was going to open that can of worms by asking. Soon after, he then received the message from Spock and the doctor knew that he would have to hurry up in order to make it to the meeting on time but he had to ensure that the patient's condition was intact; it was nothing too serious so it wouldn't take too long. 

Time passed and much to McCoy's dissatisfaction one of Page's brilliant observers entered into the room with hands behind his back, carrying a prideful expression upon his face that brought annoyance to the doctor. The spectator lifted his nose in the air as he paced around evaluating the scene. McCoy refrained from muttering something unintelligent under his breath and simply chose to ignore the other's attitude yet stayed fully aware that he was literally being watched. Now, this made things a little more complicated.


	3. Suspicions

Leon read the report of the incident at the base on the first planet, eyes skimming over the body count. Only of handful of his crew had been injured, and he'd only lost two men. A success, though this was one of the less guarded targets he'd been given. As planned, he'd stationed a few soldiers on the planet’s surface to retain control over the resources. "Forward this home." He ordered, tossing the pad to one of his men. The entire bridge was comprised of his people, so he didn't bother being careful with his words. According to the schedule on the report, they would reach their next target in less than 24 hours. "Tell them we're on schedule. The Federation outposts won't be a problem in this sector after the weeks up." The man nodded, taking the pad and leaving the bridge, one of his friends leaving with him. 

So far everything had fallen into place. The ship was theirs, all unwanted inquiries had been dealt with, and they had people in command at Starfleet to keep it that way. Page grinned, leaning back in the captain's chair. For someone who'd never actually attended Starfleet, he wasn't doing too badly at all.

The two men with the data pad got off the lift, heading down the corridor, joking with each other. "Think we'll actually get to get off this ship and go home after the missions done?" One asked, the other shrugging in reply. "Maybe. At least we're getting paid well for this. Lunch after?" The walked up to a free console, neither paying attention to their surroundings, too used to being with their own. Once the message had been sent, they headed off to the mess chatting aimlessly with each other, data pad laying forgotten on the console.

Page straightened up from where he was lounging on the bridge, heading to the lift after ordering his first officer to take over. He'd yet to get the medical report from the injuries incurred during the mission, and he would set that oversight right in person. Besides, perhaps this would give him the leverage he needed to replace Leonard as CMO. Oh, he'd keep him on staff, no use that talent going to waste. But something like that needed to be handled carefully. 

He entered sickbay, nodding a dismissal to the observer watching the doctor. Considering the man had been put to work fixing up his men that were injured on the planet, he wanted one of his own keeping watch over the doctors work, making sure he didn't ask too many questions. 

"Doctor." he said, the greeting sounding more like a snappy command to attention rather than anything else. "You've yet to submit your reports on the condition of those returning from the mission." He stated, the unspoken demand for an explanation obvious.

The doctor was finishing up on the leg of the patient but lo and behold, the person he didn't want to see at this time had suddenly came in. His eyes flickered to the captain's before he continued working on the project he was currently doing. At this rate he'd never get a break and McCoy knew it was important that he made it to the meeting with Sulu and Spock. Although his attention was preoccupied with the injury in front of him, McCoy gave heed to what the captain had to say. For now he subdued the scowl that wanted to take form. "Well, Sir…" his focus remained on the patient's leg and tried not to divert it to anything else, including the observer who was still blatantly watching him. If one had listened carefully and knew the medical officer quite well then they may have picked up on the subtle, sarcastic tone he had when he used the word 'Sir'. From the sound of the captain's voice Leonard knew that this wasn't going to go well. "All of the reports are... - stop moving!" the doctor interrupted quickly ordering the patient before continuing to answer the captain. "…in the files over there." He picked up his surgical instrument and gestured over to a computer and desk that was nearby. Returning his attention to the wound the doctor then continued to finish what he was saying. "This is the last one. There have been quite a few casualties but thankfully there hasn't been too much loss."  
Tugging at a part of the gash with the tool he then pulled something out which caused the person, who was receiving the medical care, to let out an abrupt cry before coming to a stop. "Yep, that should do it," McCoy remarked before tearing his gaze over to the captain, the instrument still in his hand. He raised a brow. "Anything else I can help you with, Captain?"

”All post mission reports have been filed and turned over to me, all except yours McCoy.” Page ground out, eyes narrowing. “Having them filed and sitting in sickbay doesn’t do any good. If you’re having trouble following protocol, I can find someone more proficient than you.” 

The Starfleet consistency for following orders and protocol made is so easy to keep them in line. Add that to the exhaustive workload he’d given to all those who had the pull to cause problems and Page had the ship well in hand, and was able to retain the talent that made the enterprise such a famous ship. The real challenge was keeping them in check without raising too many suspicions. Giving the doctor and sickbay one last perfunctory look, he turned to leave. “Meeting at 0800. I expect you to have a status of each patient and recovery time. Have someone finish here, get those reports done.” He ordered before leaving. Thus far, the ever present threat of being replaced and removed from the enterprise had worked to keep them in line, so Page had no intention of varying from that. He had some plans to look over before the meeting. At least the injuries would keep the doctor out of his hair until he could find a replacement. That in mind he made his way to his quarters.

Sulu spend the rest of his shift doing basically nothing. As expected, there were no threats to the ship during the mission, and no updates were given to the crew. At least, none were given to him. Were it not for the slight hum of the ship jumping into warp, he wouldn’t even have known they were done and on their way to the next stop. He kept an eye on the time, doing his best not to fidget as time passed and he waited for his shift to end and his relief to arrive. With the observer there, he couldn’t leave before his replacement showed, no matter over his shift he went. When the officer did show up, it was almost infuriating how the observer greeted him with a smile and a joke. Sulu was quick to shut down his station, muttering a quick excuse of being off shift when the two of them gave him a look. 

The pilot moved through the corridors, trying to exude an air of confidence and not the stress and paranoia he really felt. His jaw tensed as a couple of redshirts turned a corridor, walking not a few feet behind him. It sounded like they were having an argument, heated whispers about a report or something. They didn’t follow him for long, much to his relief. As he approached the lift, he ran into a frazzled looking ensign, arms full of a bin of data pads. 

”Let me help.” He offered, smiling briefly, recognizing her as one of the original crew. 

”Thank you, sir.” She said, sighing. “As if there isn’t enough work given out, but one of the bridge officers handed me than saying it needed to be organized and brought down to storage.”

”I’ll take it.” He offered. It would give him an excuse for being down in the storage bay where he to get caught. Plus it was worth the relieved look the ensign gave him before exiting the lift. 

He made it to the meeting place without any other interruptions or problems, entering the room to find Spock already there, typing away at a pad. “What’s that?” He asked, setting the bin down.

”Inventory.” The Vulcan responded simply, passing him the pad. It was, in a way, but a pointless thing for this particular storage bay. 

”Nice.” Sulu said, handing it back to him. “Looks like we had the same idea. I’m helping out a friend with these.” He waved a hand at the data pads the ensign had given him. At least Spock’s ‘inventory’ wouldn’t look suspicious considering the pointless jobs being handed out recently. “Where’s the Doc? Figured I’d be last since I got held up. Think he’s having the same problem?” Sulu asked, picking up a pad and scanning through it. He needed something to do with his hands while he waited. 

”There is no way to ascertain such a thing has occurred without giving away our intentions.” Spock replied, putting away his data pad to focus on Sulu. “As we have little time, I would suggest we not waste it speculating.”

”What are doing here in the first place, if not speculating over what’s going on.” Sulu muttered darkly, continuing to stack the pads. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Spock began talking, recognizing what he like to think of as ‘the lecture voice’, even if it did sound the same as Spock’s normal tone.

Back in sickbay, the doctor's eyes lingered on the captain until he left. Once the leader had finally given him space, McCoy cursed to himself, not caring for the observer who was still in the same room. Given the fact that he had been so preoccupied with other tasks it was no surprise the reports hadn't been sent. If this meeting was going to go like the last one then he knew it was best to take advantage of it while he could. He knew that his time in his position was limited now and in this next meeting he was most likely going to have the same experience as Sulu did and be reassigned elsewhere. "/Always/ wanted to be a garbage man," he murmured, shaking his head as eyes darted to the door again. He needed to get to the storage bay to meet up with Sulu and Spock. Hopefully the two were still there. Cleaning up and organizing a series of things in quite a swift manner the observer looked at him suspiciously. For now he had to get someone to temporarily replace him for his "break" and the other joyous meeting he was going to have to attend, yet again.

While McCoy was busy making sure that all the files were sent, the persisting spectator took slow steps over before peering down at what he was doing. The man huffed in a smug and mighty manner before glaring at the doctor.

"What are you doing?" he inquired in a haughty tone. He smirked as he knew fully well that the captain disapproved of McCoy's presence just like the many others they had to repress.

"Remind me what your job is," McCoy replied in sarcasm. "I'm doing exactly what the /captain/ wants me to do and then I'm taking my break." He stared at the man for no longer than a few seconds. "For an observer you sure don't give ear to what is being said." The doctor lifted his gaze to the other whose eyes were now darkening after the comment he had just made. It was written plainly on the schedule that McCoy was entitled to a break, thanks to his crafty hobgoblin friend, and the doctor was not going to allow for his time to be subdued.

Not more had been said and after the doctor had finally completed his work he walked out to the corridor before picking up the pace. He was heading to the meeting place where Sulu and Spock were, perhaps still waiting for him. Gritting his teeth Leonard realized that it was he who was now the late one.

The Vulcan was trying to explain… something to Sulu. Honestly, Sulu could only follow about half of what the Vulcan was talking about. Something about history, and how something had happened at some point, leading to something. And, ok, maybe he’d actually stopped really listening after a certain point. The basic point was something was wrong back at Starfleet, the how and whys didn’t particularly concern him right now. Not that it sounded like Spock had specific concrete proof of anything. Just that the complaints coming in from various ships were being ignored. 

Sulu frown, pausing over the data pad he’d just picked up. “Hey, check this out.” He said, interrupting what he really hoped was the conclusion of Spock’s ‘explanation.’ He looked up to find Spock’s patented deadpanned look, and he half shrugged. Yeah, he hadn’t been listening, so what. This was as close to any time off he’d gotten in a long time, even if that time off was reading mission reports. It was better than being scrutinized while trying to work. 

”Look, they’re just a bunch of mission reports, all what you’d expect for something so simple. No damage to the ship, all stations fine. But the reports from those that went down to the surface… They’re all identical. And most of them are from security.” Sulu explained, passing him a couple of the reports. 

Spock took the offered reports, reading through them quickly. “Fascinating. But for a few variations in phrasing, they are all the same.” 

”So, now we know Page is hiding something.” Sulu sighed, tossing a hand up in frustration. That didn’t really get them anywhere, it wasn’t something they didn’t already know. 

“We should search through the rest of them. Perhaps one of them will give us some indication of Page’s motives.” 

Sulu wanted to groan. That was going to take forever. With the near absolute silence falling over them, it was a tedious task. Before it hadn’t been so difficult for Sulu, the reports had been better than Spock’s lecturing. Now it was like reading the same book, over and over. He was flipping through one when the doors to the storage bay opened. Reflexively, Sulu jerked up from where he’d been slouched against a container, standing at attention and trying not to look guilty. He relaxed with a sigh as Bones walked in. “Doc. I’ve got to leave in less than 15 minutes. What happened? Did anyone suspect anything?” He asked.

Spock had looked up as well at the doctor’s entrance, though he’d displayed none of the distress Sulu had. As McCoy filled Sulu in, and vice versa, Spock turned back to the pad in his hand. 

”I believe I have found something.” He spoke, looking over at them and offering them the data pad. “This report does not conform to star fleet regulations, nor is it addressed to Starfleet.” 

Leonard tightened his jaw before walking over and taking the data pad, bringing it up closer to his face as to get a better look. His eyes narrowed before he offered the data pad back to the Vulcan. "So what you're tryin' to say is that impostors are running this ship?" The doctor frowned and glanced at Sulu. It was as if the three of them were in a rut. They had been knocked down from their positions and McCoy knew that he was next. If there was real corruption going on back at headquarters then their options were limited. Having leaders who were deceiving the crew in multitudinous ways was not only a threat to the crewmembers but also to other inhabitants around the galactic.

"Do you think these hoaxers are trying to take down the Federation?" he asked, attempting to indicate one of the several possibilities.

”Wait, how could they do that?” Sulu interjected, craning his neck to peer down at the pad in McCoy’s hands. “How could they just takeover without… without anybody…noticing.” he trailed off, thinking about it. With Kirk gone, Spock demoted, and the entire rest of the crew so overworked they hardly had time to sleep much less ask questions. 

”I cannot ascertain their specific directives, but it is my conclusion that those in charge of the enterprise are, as you said, imposters. Finding out how deep the deception goes will require a great amount of risk, and has a high percent chance of failure.” Spock began, laying out the beginnings of some sort of plan. “For one, we need to take back the ship. We can do nothing while captain Page commands the ship.” 

Sulu pressed his lips together, unsure about where this was going. “If we’re wrong, this could end all of our careers.” He couldn’t not put that out there, though the chancing of this being some big mistake were nil. And even if they were right, they might not be able to pull off what Spock was suggesting. 

”The casualties listed on that report are just the beginning.” Spock reminded him, nodding at the pad. “As you said earlier, there were more than just the one base pointed out during that meeting. Delaying could result in more destruction.”

Sulu frowned, but said nothing else. What could he say, the Vulcan was right, as usual. He looked over at McCoy for his input. He was the only one still actually in a position to get information, maybe they could use that. 

"We're gonna have to do more than just take back this ship!" the doctor countered, bringing his hand up to his chin, pondering as he paced back and forth. "And don't think it'll be that easy, y'know. If we get caught, it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel for them." The thought of their careers coming to an end was troubling to process. Leonard wanted to deny the consequences but it would be inevitable if they were wrong or failed in their mission. At the rate things were going there was a possibility that they wouldn't be left with any career by the end of it. It was as if they were menials, helpless pawns to Page's game.

As much as he hated to admit it, Spock was right. If they didn't stop this now then it would avert to nothing but absolute destruction of many planets and homes. They just had to do something.

"Look, any time I'll be reminded about the meeting they're having," McCoy exclaimed glancing back and forth between the two. "And it's a likely chance this will be my last one." His gaze remained on Sulu as he remembered how vague their last meeting had been. This meeting could potentially be a different type where it was just him speaking to the captain, alone. There was no telling at this point.

”You are correct, taking back the ship will be merely the first step.” Spock agreed, glancing between the two of them. “If we are to succeed, we will need more support than the three of us alone.”

”I think it’s safe to assume that the observers are not going to be on our side.” Sulu commented, frowning, McCoy’s scoff a clear agreement on that point. “And I don’t think it would be safe to approach anyone we aren’t completely sure of.” 

”Agreed. It seemed we were most closely watch in the few hours before and after the mission, if they treat this next one the same.” Spock reasoned. “Therefore we should act before then. Otherwise we will be forced to wait. Doctor, your profession affords you the most leniency, find out what you can during the meeting and relay essential information to us. In the meantime, Sulu and I will attempt to rally support. The timing on this well depend on what, if anything, you are able to learn during the meeting.”

There was a chirp, Sulu’s communicator. He looked at it was a short groan. “Great, just what I needed. Late. I’ll see who I can talk to.” He laughed humorlessly, starting to walk out though he paused as McCoy received as message as well. “Watch your back in there Doc.” That said, he turned, jogging off to his next post. 

McCoy's forehead creased as the notification from his device clearly implied that he was to go to the meeting with no hesitancy. It seemed to be perfect timing, however, as Sulu forcibly needed to leave. Considering with how potent Page's men were, he hoped the Asian would not face too much trouble for being late. He frowned at Spock, feeling no need to say anything as the Vulcan could perhaps discern his dread for the meeting, even if he had issues in regards to emotions, himself.

"Great," he grumbled before leaving Spock and heading in the direction he needed to. Evidently he was required to attend but the matters that were to be brought up in the meeting were still a mystery to him. Oh well, he would just have to find out as much information as he could before reporting back.

By the time McCoy walked into the meeting room, for all that he’d arrived precisely when ordered to, the meeting was well underway. Page was in the middle of a description of defenses of their target. His gaze flickered over to McCoy as he entered and found a seat. There was only one available, right near the entrance. “We’ll be dropping out of warp at 1500 hours, so make sure your station are prepared.” He concluded, lights brightening. “McCoy, what is the status of your patients. Will they be out of the infirmary in time to be at their posts for the upcoming mission?” He was really only concerned with his own people that were in there. The next base was far better guarded and he could use every trusted soldier at his disposal. The Starfleet security officers were useless for this. 

It surprised the doctor to find that they had already started the meeting well before him and how they had only called him to come at a specific time rather than the actual start of the discussion. McCoy tried to not show too much disapproval as he found his seat. He had been ousted already before he had a chance to do anything. Had he missed all of this information that could have assisted them in their plan for rebellion? Cursing to himself, the doctor tried to gain as much knowledge as he could but the likelihood chance of that happening was not apparent.

"They will be well ready, Sir," McCoy finished after sharing the reports. It was sickening to think that this captain may have only been asking the question for his own selfish satisfaction rather than out of consideration for those innocent lives. He was taken aback by how Page had even uttered a 'thank you', even if it had sounded particularly disdainful to a certain extent. Now, he was expected to take orders from some guy named Milan, who was probably going to hover over him from this point on. Everything had gone quicker than expected. The captain was clever. The thought of these bad guys being one step ahead of them was deeply concerning to the doctor. Leon had prepared for any risks that might intrude on his plans.

Page listened to the report, lips pressed together unhappily. While McCoy was useful, and difficult to replace, Page didn’t want to the hassle of having to include him on these meetings. Which was why he’d begun early, to get the bulk of the information across to his own people first. He nodded when the doctor had finished, the only concession he’d ever give anyone of lower rank thank his. “Thank you for the update,” he said, inflection making it sound condescending. “You are dismissed.” He waited, motioning a hand toward the door when McCoy didn’t immediately make a move to leave. While he hadn't specifically taken Leonard's rank from him, he'd all but placed Milan in charge of the CMO. “Now,” he continued as the doctor headed out, “we’ll need to create a diversion here…” 

As he left the only word he was able to pick out was 'diversion'. Having the meeting with Sulu and Spock hadn't allowed the medical officer to take a proper break and he was concerned for the health and what same impact it would have on the other two. The opportunity to rest was improbable as his new orders were to prepare the sickbay. Who exactly was going to tend to him if he were to collapse all of a sudden? The doctor scowled at this as he advanced back over to the infirmary. He had let the others down.


	4. Mutiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me longer than I'd like to get this chapter up. I hope that, since you're still reading, that you like it so far. Comments and feedback are much appreciated.

To say Sulu was exhausted would be an understatement. Before that first meeting, he’d been on shift for hours on the bridge. Then the meeting, the demotion, his new posting, which he’d been at during the whole mission, then filing through those reports and the stress of Spock’s crazy plan. Yes, exhaustion. Though he hadn’t eaten in for longer than he’d like, he hardly had the energy to go to the mess. Instead he made his way to his quarters, falling into bed after checking the time. 0927. Great, he only had a little over six hours before he was expected to report for duty. And he still had to find some allies for their little plot. A nap first, he reasoned, then he’d spend the time before his shift finding other crew members on their side.

It was past 1215 hours and Spock had yet to hear from McCoy. He’d seen Sulu, who had looked ready to drop, an hour ago though they hadn’t spoken. The pilot would have indicated if McCoy had contacted him. Seeing as he had not done so meant neither of them had heard any news. Not needing as much rest as a human would, Spock had taken his allotted down time and found a few crewmembers to speak with. Now though he needed to find a way to speak with Leonard. 

It wasn’t that difficult, finding an excuse to visit sickbay. He made his way back to engineering and it was only a matter of time before one of the overworked crew had an accident of some sort. As with most of the over-exhausted crew, he was one of the original from the enterprise. Spock helped the engineer to sickbay, ushering him to a bed near the corner. He looked around as the doctor came over to work on the man, both keeping a watch to ensure they could speak privately and surveying the bustle of activity. 

”I presume the meeting did not go in your favor.” Spock stated, eyes on the observer who seemed to be giving out instructions. Though the nurses and other medics took orders from him, many of them looked to McCoy for clarification or approval. “I have been successful in speaking with some crewmembers. Were you able to learn anything from the meeting?” Spock asked, pausing between sentences as one of Page’s people passed by.

The doctor looked up at Spock with a dumbfounded look and glared for a second before carrying on with his inspection on the engineer. It would be Spock to ask such a question at this time - especially when a certain somebody was in the room! McCoy noted, however, that his foul mood was not necessarily related to the Vulcan's inquiry but was aimed more towards the turmoil that was going on inside him. "No, Spock," McCoy sighed as he continued with the assessment. Although he made no eye contact with anyone besides the patient he was working on and his colleagues who questioned him every now and then, the doctor was well aware that he was being watched. In addition, Leonard felt the need to concentrate harder as his tiredness was taking a toll but he knew he couldn't show it. There was a pessimistic atmosphere in the sickbay and McCoy blamed it solely on his observer, with the exception of the captain, of course.

"I was only allowed in for a brief amount of time," he said, glancing at the Vulcan for a moment before turning his attention back to the patient and speaking with the man, instead.

Spock didn’t react to McCoy’s news, it had been a possibility after all. Though it did make it more difficult to decide on when they should make their move. He left the doctor to his duties, as chaotic as the sickbay was currently it was unlikely McCoy would be allowed to leave barring an actual emergency. As most of the crew were busy making preparations, Spock was not too concerned with being noticed as he moved about the ship. He kept a data pad in hand, and an excuse ready should he be questioned. He passed Sulu, who was chatting quietly with an engineer, the two of them at work repairing some circuit in a panel on the corridor. 

It was 1400 hours when Sulu found Spock, the science officer crammed into a maintenance panel in engineering. “McCoy is STILL in sickbay.” Sulu stated after making sure this section of the room was empty of Page’s men. “What do they have him doing in there, preparing for a war?” 

Spock paused, glancing out at Sulu. “Whatever the captain’s plan for this mission is, it must be getting near to being put into motion.” He explained, turning back to the console, barely blinking at the sparks. “I had hoped that Leonard would have been afforded a break, or been let off shift by this time. As that is not the case, we will have to get him to come to us. We do not have the luxury of waiting any longer.” 

”I suppose that’s what the fireworks are for.” Sulu commented, arms crossing nervously over his chest.

”Not exactly.” Spock said evenly, sliding out and replacing the siding over the circuitry. “A simple call for a medical officer would likely not be enough to warrant McCoy’s skill. Unfortunately, for that a real emergency must be manufactured.”

”You’re not asking for volunteers… are you?” Sulu wouldn’t put it past him, it was possible to rationalize almost anything with logic, if you tried hard enough. 

”Unnecessary,” Spock assured him, “I have someone in mind already.” He moved forward around a corner to stand by a panel, a sort of balcony to the left overlooking a lower level of engineering. Down there were several crew both Spock and Sulu had spoken with and were on their side, along with one observer who was barking orders. “I believe the term is ‘two birds with one stone.’ The console will overload, causing enough damage to warrant a highly trained medic, but not enough so that either the captain or bridge would be concerned.”

A simple enough solution, Sulu guessed, if Spock could get the timing right. Which mainly relied on the observer to stop yelling orders and move closer to the console. Knowing Spock, someone down there probably had the story, and knew what to say over the coms to make sure it was McCoy that showed up, and not someone else.  
It took longer than Sulu felt comfortable with, though Spock showed no concern, but eventually the observer turned to the panel below. The overload worked much like Spock had predicted, and one of the ensigns called sickbay. Together, the two of them made their way down to the deck below, keeping out of sight in the event that someone uninvited showed up. 

McCoy's ears perked up before speedily turning around once his name had been called for a specific duty. Tilting his head in contemplation as he listened to the call, the doctor frowned, pressing his lips together in deliberation. Immediately following protocol, he instructed one of the nurses to replace and fulfill his duties for the time being. Hurrying over to the other side of the room to grab a medical case filled with the necessities that Leonard knew he would probably need, the doctor left the sickbay and began to jog to the destination he was called to. From the sound of what had happened he hoped that there wasn't too much damage; he had patched too many people up for the day.

Once he finally made it to the lower level with the medical case in hand, McCoy panted as he looked around to see where the accident had taken place. "...What?"

Spock waited a moment after McCoy entered before walking forward out of hiding, wanting to be certain the doctor was on his own, Sulu breaking off to stand watch at the door. The rest of the Starfleet crew in the bay were standing around, waiting for some sort of signal. The injured observer had been secured, even had a cloth wrapped around the injury. “I am pleased to see the plan worked.” Spock said, coming to stand behind McCoy. “I am afraid we’ve run out of time and if we are going to stop Page’s next attack we need to move now.” As it was, they already ran the risk of being too late, according to Spock’s snooping during the last few hours, they were scheduled to arrive at the planet any minute now. 

”There are such diversions planned around the ship.” Spock explained, waving a hand toward the blackened console. “Nothing to disable the Enterprise, but to give us the advantage when taking her back.” 

”Here,” Sulu called, walking back into the room accompanied by two green skinned crewmen. In the females arms were a tray of phasers. He tossed one to Spock, who caught it deftly, then to McCoy. “Put away your medkit for now Doc. We need every hand we can get.”

He barely caught the phaser that had been thrown to him by Sulu. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at the item before lifting his head and frowning at the Asian. "What?!" McCoy snapped, gritting his teeth. "I'm a doctor, not a marksman!"

It never occurred to him that Sulu and Spock were behind the whole ordeal that had recently transpired. If it wasn't for the bad mood he was already in, a smirk would have perhaps been seen across his face. He was grateful that they had managed to remove him from the infirmary; the doctor had been in there long enough.

Right now was the time for action and McCoy was ready, although he was still insistent in bringing the medical case. They had encountered many struggles together and there was always that chance that someone was bound to get hurt. As a doctor he could not allow himself to be unprepared for these types of situations.

Sulu couldn’t help but smirk a little at the familiar phrase McCoy used. For a moment, even though dealing with the exhaustion, it was just like old times. “We’re timing this for not long after we drop out of warp, before they settle in an orbit or beam anyone down. It’ll cause more problems up here, but at least we won’t have to worry about any casualties on the planet.” At least not until they figured out just what exactly was going on down there anyway. 

McCoy inhaled sharply and casted a glance to the Asian as if he was trying to convey the message 'here we go'. They followed Spock down the corridor and kept alert for any signs of the adversary. He listened carefully to what the Vulcan had to say and Leonard was glad that it wasn't himself who was getting beamed down. 

”Timing is critical if we wish to success with minimal bloodshed.” Spock voiced, leading the way down the corridor as he filled the doctor in. He’d been very busy the past few hours. “According to what information I’ve gathered, most of Page’s men are preparing to beam down, the rest should be keeping watch over the various stations aboard the ship. Our mission is to secure the bridge.”

”Once we’ve secured the imposters, I’ll set a course for a suitable planet. We can leave them there, where they won’t be able to do any harm, until we find out what’s going on at HQ.” Sulu added. 

”We have the element of surprise and security should be minimal.” Spock pointed out, stopping at the lift and turning to the group. Besides himself, Sulu, and Bones there were two other redshirted crewmen. “This will be our only chance.” If they failed, there would be no second attempt. 

Securing the bridge was their first priority. The doctor looked over to Sulu and smirked before casting his gaze forward, going back to wearing a more serious expression upon his face. Sulu was the best pilot in the fleet and it would only be him who was capable of doing such wonders. "You know what they say," McCoy mused, "Cross that bridge when you come to it."

”Let’s do this.” Sulu quipped as he entered the lift, tone full of a bravado he didn’t entirely feel.  
In the back of McCoy’s mind, he just hoped that Leon hadn't already planned for their ambush. If Page and his men were to, yet again, be one step ahead then they could be luring themselves right into a nasty trap.

The doors of the lift opened soundlessly onto the bridge. Page was sitting in the captain’s chair, as usually, his first officer beside him. The two were focused on some data laid out on the arm of the chair, the first officer leaning over and pointing something out to Page. Neither noticed the lifts arrival. Six other officers on the bridge brought the total to eight. Sulu’s replacement and one other were at the helm, the rest were along the back wall manning the stations to the right and left of the lift. 

The group didn’t get far onto the bridge before being notice, the officer on communications shouting an alarm. There wasn’t a lot of room to fire phasers, especially as none of them wanted to risk damaging the ship, not even Page’s people. Sulu took down one of the men at the helm, he’d stood and started drawing his own phaser. One of the redshirt crewmen took out the man at the science station. After that the bridge was chaos. Sparks erupted behind the group as they all reflexively ducked away from the return fire, advancing forward onto the bridge. 

The communications officer lunged forward, slamming into Sulu and sending them both flailing down, crashing into some of the group on the way down. Page was on his feet in an instant, shouting orders into the chaos as the fight spread. Page was suspicious and paranoid, but overconfident once he’d believed he’d won. Having beaten down the crew, removing their officer’s from positions of power, he’d presumed the game won and had not have the ability or initiative to surmount a mutiny. That they were currently invading his bridge was an affront to his pride.

Element of surprise or not, they were still outnumbered, one of the redshirts already down, and the attempt was not going quite as well as either Spock or Sulu could have hoped. The science station erupted in a blaze of sparks and flames, the diversion coming a bit later than Spock had originally planned. Pulling Sulu to his feet, Spock led them forward, not faltering as seconds after the sparks had dixd down the entire bridge was plunged into darkness. 

By the time the lights came back on, Spock had a phaser on Page and Sulu was standing next to the first officer’s unconscious body. While not exactly smooth sailing, Sulu could appreciate how well this plan had worked out. His mouth curved up slightly, almost a smirk as he looked around. They’d actually done it.

McCoy sought to catch his breath after their rapid sabotage. His body was tired but thankfully he hadn't done too much of the fighting at the front, even though he was willing to assist at all cause. Using his hand to push himself off from the floor after getting knocked down, the doctor stood up, still with the medical case in one hand and the phaser in the other, taking into account of Spock's temporary charge over the captain.

When the lights had switched off Leonard was afraid that they were not going to succeed and that it was the end for them. Thankfully once it had turned back on they were able to see again and Spock somehow gained control over Page. Anticipating for any spontaneous events that may occur he kept an eye on their surroundings, ready to fight again if needed.

So far as Sulu could tell, Spock’s preparation had given them the edge they needed to pull this off. So far as the bridge was concerned there were only two casualties, one from either side. The pilot watched as Spock had Page and his men rounded up. Page and one other were given the task of basically carrying the first officer’s dead weight between them, two others helping the one who’d been stunned by Sulu’s phaser, and the final prisoner who walked under his own power. 

Spock escorted them, with the spare redshirt crewman assisting, down to the brig, leaving Sulu and McCoy to keep the ship running. “Keep an eye on the comms, will ya doc? Make sure there are no other problems on the way.” Sulu requested, sliding into his old post and making sure the ship maintained its orbit. Likely they wouldn’t be able to stay long going by the flashing light on his dash, signifying the bases repeated attempt to hail them. Once assured of a stable orbit, he moved over to the left, setting a search for a planet to leave Page and his crew on, before moving onto yet another station, trying to keep up with all the things that needed tended to before they could safely get underway.  
McCoy watched as the men were escorted away. He nodded in response to Sulu as he ran over to check on how things were going. Every now and then he would glance back to the other, worried that everything would be too much for them to handle. "Do you really think that we can do this all by ourselves?! We need Spock or someone up here if we're to fully stabilize this ship." However, the Asian clearly knew what he was doing and it wasn't too long until things were coming back together in order.

On the comms, reports where coming in from the different sections of the ship. Casualties, injuries, and the status of each deck. They had been successful, though barely, suffering more casualties to the enterprise crew than anticipated. Not to mention that two teams had successfully beamed down to the base before they could be stopped.  
He took in the reports, his eyes scanning back and forth in determination while listening to pay attention to every single detail. "Damn it! You ought to hear this…" Many had been hurt and the amount of casualties appeared to be a great deal but nothing the vessel's medical crew couldn't handle. "Sounds like chaos down there."

Page’s men on the planet were wreaking havoc, the security there was attempting to fight back, but the surprise had them at a disadvantage. All this trouble and Page still might succeed in taking down the base.

”We’re gonna have to do the best we can on our own for now.” Sulu commented, cursing under his breath as an alarm sounded at the helm. While the auto pilot hadn’t exactly been disabled, its ability to maintain orbit was slightly compromised. The ship gave a slight shake as he shifted in to the seat, hands moving quickly to stabilize them once more. He sighed tiredly. “We’ll get help when we can, but there’s a dozen other little problems all over the ship. And that’s not counting securing Page’s men. Spock will be back, hopefully with help, when he can.” Sulu said irritably, moving over to the comms with McCoy. 

There wasn’t enough room in the brig to house all of the imposters, so they were being split into three groups between the brig and two cargo bays. They’d slightly underestimated the numbers Page had with him, and as a result it was going to be tough keeping the ship running on their own.

The pilot let out a breath as he stopped beside the doctor, muttering a quick apology. Sulu knew McCoy was just as tired, more so in fact, than he was, and getting upset with the doctor wasn’t going to help anyone.

”We won’t be able to spare anyone to help on the planet.” Sulu reasoned, after hearing the report. “We can barely keep…” He stopped, frowning as he reached over to receive a communication from Starfleet. That was new, ever since Page no one had heard directly from Starfleet but the captain. The crew had been hearing their orders, all of them, filtered through Page.

He froze, hearing the message, not even noticing as the helm began blaring an alarm once more. It was impossible, Starfleet couldn’t already know what had just happened. Even if Page’s people had managed a message, they wouldn’t have responded with this kind of verdict so soon. Traitors? Enemy of the Federation? Even a mutiny like theirs wouldn’t have been that serious.

"You've got to be kidding me!" McCoy barked, anxious eyes turning to Sulu. "They think we're the enemies now!"

“Sulu!” McCoy yelled, stumbling slightly and pushing the Asian. “Damn it man, do something before this bucket break apart!”

The pilot was shaken out it, finally hearing McCoy’s shouting as the Enterprise shook hard enough to cause them to stumble, the doctor all but shoving him toward the helm. He sat down, typing in a new course and breaking the ship out of orbit. This was not the time to be heading into space, and he risked having to backtrack when the computer found a place to put the imposters, but it appeared they had little choice. 

Whatever had been happening at Starfleet had either escalated or resolved, the only problem was that the Enterprise, and her entire crew, looked to have landed on the wrong side. Better that they get the ship straightened out before trying to clear their name, if that was even possible. Sparks flew from a console along the wall as the Enterprise shuddered once more, breaking away from the planet and heading out into space. 

Leonard grabbed onto the closest thing he could once the ship encountered turbulence. This is exactly why he hated flying because the unpredictable could happen at any time, not to mention that there were too many health hazards involved. Finding balance to where he was able to stand up properly again the doctor scrunched his nose in disgust after what they had just heard.

Heck, they were in grave danger. This was serious. McCoy knew very well that they didn't have a full understanding as to why they were suddenly labeled as enemies to the Federation. They were going to be hunted; there was no question about it. He didn't have to tell the pilot what the other already knew. This vessel was well known to Starfleet and could be easily recognizable in a second. In an attempt to avoid getting shocked by the spontaneous sparks, he ducked before standing up again. "Shit," he cursed yet again.


	5. Encounter

Some turbulence Spock had anticipated. He’d left only McCoy and Sulu on the bridge with many of the ships electrical systems compromised. As he’d informed the doctor, it was not enough to disable the ship, it simply made flying her somewhat challenging. He’d secured the prisoners, setting up a shift rotation to guard them, and was in the midst of organizing the remaining crew into somewhat of a working order when the Enterprise shuddered again, this time with enough force to unbalance those in the corridor, two crewman sprawling across the floor. 

Spock assisted the fallen crewman closest to him, before turning to address the senior engineer of the group. “Continue organizing repairs of critical systems. Report to the bridge when you are finish.” He ordered, handing him a data pad. Though Spock knew the crew were overworked as it was, there was no other alternative. Calling two of the crew to follow, Spock headed toward the bridge. 

As they arrived on the bridge, Spock sent one crewman to monitor the ships integrity and life support, the other to continue the repairs and put out the sparking consoles. 

”Lieutenant Sulu, why have we left orbit?” Spock questioned, looking at the retreating planet on the view screen. They had needed more time to fix the systems, as well as assist with capturing the team of Page’s men that had managed to beam to the surface.

McCoy watched silently as Spock and the other crewmembers entered the bridge, somewhat relieved at the additional assistance. He kept calm, albeit they were now in the means of overcoming another challenge.

Though Spock had little inflection in the question, as usual, to Sulu’s tired and stressed mind it sounded a bit too accusatory, leading him to be a bit more snippy in response than he normally would. “That base is under attack, by us.” He stated, because that’s how Starfleet would see it (how they apparently had seen it) though he’d let McCoy be the one to explain that to the Vulcan. “We don’t have warp capability right now, so I’d like to put as much distance between us and here as we can, while we can.” He bit back anymore words, it wasn’t Spock’s fault any more than had been McCoy’s earlier. 

Sulu’s jaw tightened as the search he’d started earlier beeped at him. He slid over to check the readout for the planet, as well as get the course heading. It would work, though he doubted Page would be comfortable. He frowned as he moved back to his original seat, they’d drifted even in the short time he’d been at the other station. “Looks like I won’t be much use helping out until we get the autopilot fixed.” He commented as he adjusted their heading, tone more sedate than it had been previously. “Might have been good enough around the planet, but not out here. Four hours ETA to our destination, unless we can get warp back.”

Listening to the conversation taking place it was no surprise how much pressure the pilot was under. Sulu was responsible for operating the flight controls of the aircraft and their lives depended on its maneuver. McCoy didn't understand all of the technicalities but it was never good news when they were unable to warp.

Spock watched Sulu for a moment before dismissing his attitude as simply a human emotional response to the stress and amount of work that had been placed upon him during the past few weeks. At the moment, there were more important problems to consider. He moved over to McCoy, sending a quick message that the mess in engineering should be top priority, it had gotten a little over chaotic during the takeover, before looking to Leonard for an explanation. 

Leonard glanced at the Vulcan with an inscrutable look upon his face, tilting his head ever so slightly. He frowned before speaking up. "We've been defined as nothing but traitors, Mister Spock." There was no telling how Spock was going to react to this, if he were to react at all. Turning to look towards the pilot again he turned back and waited for a response. 

Spock stared at the screen for a moment, processing this new information and the implications of it. Indeed, Sulu’s decision to break orbit had been correct. Another Starfleet vessel was likely already in route. “There is little we can do about that at the moment.” He concluded, then turned to face McCoy. “Doctor, you should return to sickbay for the time being. Use your own judgment, but release as many back to duty as possible, we cannot afford to spare too many crew. We should focus our efforts on the problem at hand.” 

"…You want me to go back to where?!" he snapped. It was completely outrageous, unbelievable, yet logical in Vulcan terms, anyway. The truth was the circumstances required everyone's input to resolving the case. They had to get away to safety and the skills of all able-bodied crewmembers were inevitably essential. What peeved the doctor the most, more than the fact that the unsympathetic goblin was expressing no understanding, was the mere exhaustion. As a doctor he was used to working hard and being called at unforeseeable times but his mind was slow at this present moment and McCoy could not afford to make any mistakes. Nevertheless, he knew what he had to do. He shot an angry glare at the other.

"You're off your rocker, Spock," he said, "If you're thinking I can keep this up any much longer. I'll go down there but you bet your ass it won't be long!" His priority was the crew and that was what justified his reasoning for protest. At drastic times like this they had to use all the resources they could but McCoy was human and understood that he had limitations, too.

Naturally, McCoy’s response was an emotional one, so Spock let him have his say, watching impassively as the man left the bridge. Spock knew just as well as McCoy that the entire crew was reaching the breaking point. But there was little that could be done. Even after they were rid of Page, there were too few crew and too many jobs that needed done. There was nothing the Vulcan could do to ease the doctor’s fatigue, so logically he moved on to something he could do. 

Spock remained on the bridge, assisting with repairs and monitoring the ships systems, leaving Sulu to pilot the ship as he saw best. Ten minutes after McCoy left, two other crewmembers entered the bridge to take up posts. It took slightly over an hour to get the bridge back in optimal condition, Sulu reporting warp was available shortly after that. 

Sulu visibly relaxed after that, the Enterprise jumping to warp. “New ETA, 20 minutes.” He reported, relieved at the decreased amount of time they’d have to worry about Page.  
Spock nodded, finishing the schedule he’d been working on. “I will prepare the imposters for transport. You have the bridge, Mister Sulu.” Spock said, relinquishing his station to one of the other crewman. While he trusted the security crew well enough to do their job, having a senior officer there to oversee Page’s transfer would be the wisest course of action. It was possible that some of the crew might have reservation over the mutiny, and Spock did not want to leave any opening for Page to convince the crew that he was rightful captain. 

Sulu lifted his eyebrows, at Spock’s orders, glancing back at the Vulcan’s retreating back before focusing back to piloting the ship. The Enterprise’s systems were nearly all back in working order, so it wasn’t that impossible to both fly the ship and run the bridge. “Of course.” He signed, knowing he’d just end up calling Spock back up here if anything happened. He bit back any other snarky comments, just shaking his head slightly. 

He dropped the out of warp, the ship running smoothly enough now that the transition could barely be felt. Setting the ship in a standard orbit, he left the auto pilot to monitor it. He moved over to the captain’s chair, opening up communication to Spock. “We’re in orbit and Ensign Noore has located a suitable site. Coordinates have been relayed to the transporter room.” 

Sulu sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair as he received Spock’s affirmative. It felt like no time at all, though the ships log indicated it had been near an hour, that Spock’s voice came over the comms again, reporting that all the prisoners had been transported down and that they should break orbit as soon as possible.

The pilot bit back a groan as he got up, moving back to his original station. The ensign who’d taken over at some point gave him a sympathetic smile as he moved to navigation. Spock hadn’t given him a heading, and since Sulu was the one in charge at the moment anyway, he decided that heading away from federation space would be in the best interest.  
They broke away from the planet, Sulu keeping them at impulse for the moment due to the moons of this particular planet and not wanting them to interfere with the ward drive. “Sir.” One of the ensigns said, voice rough as he blinked at the panel in front of him. “I’m picking something up on the sensors.”

Sulu hardly had a moment to ask what it was when they rounded the planet’s largest moon, the ‘something’ the ensign had spoken of showing up on the view screen. A federation ship, though not exactly in fighting condition. “Yellow Alert.” Sulu snapped, bringing the Enterprise to a stop, reaching over to activate the comms. Though the other ship had neither attacked nor hailed them, it wouldn’t be long before one or the other happened. “Bridge to Spock and McCoy. You guys better get up here, we’ve got a problem.”

McCoy closed his eyes in disbelief as he heard his name get called again. He was just about to use the hypospray to inject some hydrocortilene into a patient who was suffering with a severe migraine before the doctor had got momentarily distracted. Looking back into the eyes of the patient as his brain processed the need to go to the bridge, he quickly fulfilled his role before ordering a nurse to temporarily replace his position.

He quickly ran and eventually got to the bridge where he had been summoned. Yellow alerts were not regularly transmitted so something was definitely off. Walking over to where the pilot was located the doctor looked at him, furrowing his brows. "What's going on now?"

Sulu barely glanced back as McCoy showed up. “See for yourself Doc.” he said, nodding at the view screen and the ship plainly visible. He didn’t move from his station, wanting to be ready in case the other ship became hostile. “The gases around this moon made it difficult for the sensors to pick them up until we were right up on them.” He explained, hearing the lift open once more and the familiar pace of Spock’s footsteps as he entered the bridge. “We could probably outrun them, but we can’t safely go to warp this close to the moons.” The chance that the other ship would fire and damage the Enterprise went unsaid. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a steadying breath. 

McCoy took a few slow steps forward and gaped at what he was able to see through the starboard bow. He stepped back with a frown before returning to where he had been previously standing. Moon gases or not he knew there was another ship flying near them. The doctor cast an indecipherable look towards the Vulcan, who had recently entered the floor.

Spock stepped forward, taking stock of the situation. The crew aboard the bridge was minimal at best, as with everywhere else on the ship. It was no wonder Sulu had summoned both himself and the doctor. One look at McCoy told him that the doctor wouldn’t be on his feet too much longer. “Ensign Noore, what is the status of the other ship?” Spock asked, crossing the bridge to take the captain’s chair. 

“Their shields are down, no weapons. It’s the USS Elyon-Ui, explorer vessel.” Noore reported, sounding more confident now that someone had assumed command. “No communication from them so far.”

Spock studied the ship on screen for a breath before issuing orders. “Ensign, you will raise shields and hail the vessel, then move over to weapons. Doctor, I will need you to monitor the shields and hull integrity.” Spock instructed, attempting to have some sort of plan should this end in a fight. While he did not want to appear initially hostile, they had been, after all, branded traitor to the Federation. Considering the skeleton crew they were running on, having shields was a necessary precaution. 

The ensign obeyed quickly, waving McCoy into position once he’d finished. The doctor cast a glance at Spock before lowering his gaze down to the controls on the board.  
If there were ever a time to be more grateful that Spock was Vulcan, Sulu didn’t know of it. He didn’t seem bothered by the opposing vessel, not the seemingly endless time it took for them to answer the Enterprise’s hail.


	6. Captain

Aboard the other ship was no other than the one and only James T. Kirk, himself… with a few others in addition to his company, of course. His entire "crew", though small in numbers, had been on the run quite longer than a month or two now… or was it three? Had it really been that long? Kirk sighed; rubbing his temples before looking up and crossing his arms, biting his lip resentfully. The exiled captain had full intention in returning to reclaim the justice he deserved. Those assholes had somehow made it possible to unfairly discharge him from his position and had left him like this. No, in fact, it has been worse and Kirk could feel the blood boiling inside him as he thought about it again, as if a raging volcano were ready to erupt. Oh yes, he knew /all/ about active volcanoes, thanks to Spock. Jim had done all that he could to ensure that none of his old crew would be in danger after his dismissal, yet he was quite sure that they hadn't got off as lucky as he had hoped they would have. Knowing the men who were behind these scenes he was sure that his crew had endured some unfavorable conditions he didn't even want to imagine. For their sake Kirk hoped that they were safe, whether they had been released from Starfleet or not.

Nevertheless, he had the fortune of taking a ship and the guys he now associated with weren't bad at all. Kirk smirked and nodded, inwardly praising him and his men for all that they had accomplished. Shooting a sidelong glance to one of the men, who appeared troubled, running up and informing him of something, Kirk didn't expect to hear.

"What?!" Kirk's facial features scrunched up as he looked back at the man, his eyes squinting, as if he had a hard time comprehending the new information.  
Suddenly his face fell. He intently stared at the other for a few seconds as his head was spinning with many things going through his mind. If it was the USS Enterprise then Kirk knew very well that it wasn't him who was the captain on that ship.

Kirk's jaw clenched tightly. It was a bittersweet feeling for him to see his old ship again. He knew that most of the functions that were on his current vessel were not working and they were no match for the USS Enterprise. They didn't even have any shields, for goodness' sake! However, it being another Federation ship was the only thing that gave Jim a small ounce of comfort at this time. They were not seen as an enemy by the other, that is, until they found out this ship had been hijacked, which was possible as communication between Starfleet and the Enterprise was expected. This vessel had been taken and was undoubtedly on the watch-list back at headquarters. Shit.

"… They're trying to communicate with us, Sir."

Kirk blinked. His feigned expression didn't change the fact that they had now little time to prepare as the Enterprise was already hailing them. With a grunt of exertion he straightened up and moved to alleviate the situation. It would have been silly to think that they could run from this. "I need someone to take the chair!" Before, discussions of such an event happening had been conferred about and the small group of men were ready. "Do not put us on-screen until everything is set!" he ordered again, pointing his finger at the officer as he hurried to the other side of the room, one of the crewmembers taking the captain's seat and straightening up into a decent, formal posture. Without being seen, Kirk had to make sure that he was able to get every detail out of the communication as possible and direct his crew with further instructions. Getting into a strategic place where he could not be seen the captain then glanced at the communications officer with a nod, indicating that it was time to initiate the contact.

"Broadcast."

”They’re responding.” Noore reported, looking at Spock. “Channel is open.”

”This is Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise.” Spock stated, rising as the other ship’s captain appeared on the screen. “What is your business is this sector of space?” Straight and to the point, a near challenge to the other’s right to be there. If the ship were still acting in accordance with starfleet protocol, they would at least have warning before the other ship made any aggressive moves. And as they themselves were, at least technically, no longer part of starfleet, there were no regulations ruling how he must address this captain. If his demand were to cause the other man to reveal something he otherwise might not have, then that was to the benefit of the Enterprise. 

Impossible! The moment Spock appeared on the screen Jim inclined his head, staring in utter disbelief. He was expecting to see a conceited captain with the most egotistic demeanor but it was no other than the famous Mister Spock, himself. The man sitting in the seat looked brusquely over to his leader, waiting for further direction. Their predictions had been off but the crewmember wanted to make no hasty decision that would lead to any irrational behavior.

For a brief, jarring moment, Jim contemplated the situation, his mouth twisting with doubt. Spock wouldn't have joined the opposition… would he? Immediately his attention was brought back to the matter at hand and he looked his crewmember for a brief moment, his mind elsewhere, before striding over to viewpoint. Kirk took a single step forward, expression calm despite his reservations that were masked. He clasped his hands together and smiled broadly.

"I see you haven't changed, Spock," Kirk grinned. Despite everything that had gone on it was great and mildly amusing to reunite with his friend again. "Or should I say… /Captain/ Spock of the Enterprise?" Kirk raised both brows as he teasingly mocked the other. He was eager to see the reaction of the Vulcan after all this time they had been apart.

Spock hesitated, head tilting fractionally to the side, about the only indication of confusion he'd ever show. This was certainly unexpected. "Regulations state that in the absence of a captain, the highest ranking officer may assume the position." Spock stated, a way of both assuring Kirk he was still himself and in answer to Kirk's taunt. Kirks response to that would also likely indicate where Jim stood with starfleet in general. "I was beginning to believe you had not survived reassignment.”

While Spock was certain Kirk would not attack his old ship, nor his old crew, that did not mean that it was impossible. Considering the lengths that the usurpers had gone to in order to make James Kirk unreachable, it was highly unlikely that he had joined them. However, Kirk would not have that same assurance of their motives. 

After barely a moments though Spock shifted over to the nearest console, lowering the shields before looking back at Kirk onscreen to gauge his reaction. Even if Spock had found it necessary, there was no way the Vulcan would have been able to convince the crew to fire upon a ship that their missing captain was currently onboard. 

Kirk smirked to himself, standing with his hands now propped behind his back as he listened to the Vulcan. His interpretation of the message that had been conveyed was that Spock had obviously replaced him after the dismissal. Biting the inside of his cheek as he pondered, it puzzled Kirk as to why the council would have placed Spock in such a position. It was possible that they were either tormenting the Vulcan with manipulation or Spock had no actual idea of what their intentions were. The only reasonable explanation would be that they were using the Vulcan to carry out their intentions and only he was capable of succeeding by carrying that rank. Jim's lip curled in disgust and wanted to sneer at such a notion.

"Woah, woah… Wait a minute!" the captain brought both hands up to his temples as he lowered his head, shutting his eyes for a moment while trying to take it all in. A surge of emotions flew through him as he began to try and put the pieces together. "You're telling me that Starfleet chose you to replace me? That makes no sense."

”Oh the contrary.” Spock said, frowning slightly at Jim’s tone. What could he have said to upset him so? “After your reassignment I was demoted. If you would like come aboard we can discuss this in person?” He offered. “I have lowered the shield, as an offer of goodwill.” 

The offer served two purposes. One, they would have Kirk back, and Spock could better ascertain which side he was on. Second, even if the crew of the opposing vessel were in allegiance with the imposters, the Enterprise crew would be amiable to fighting back if Kirk were on the Enterprise. And currently they held the advantage, the Enterprise was in much better fighting condition. 

Sulu watched the exchange warily. He was pleased to see Kirk, no doubt there, but unless he was mistaken, there was something going on. As Spock requested Jim come aboard the enterprise, Sulu sent a message to one of the other pilots still on crew. McCoy hardly looked able to command at the moment, and he didn’t trust himself to fly and give orders at the moment. Spock would go to meet Kirk if he agreed, and Sulu would find himself in command once more. 

Kirk raised a brow once the Vulcan's answer insisted that his original theory had been incorrect. He drummed his fingers against the dashboard as Spock continued, almost chuckling hoarsely at the fact that it all appeared to be illogical to even him. If Spock had truly been demoted then how had he been able to gain control of the USS Enterprise? The whole ordeal was intriguing to the young captain that he attempted another grin but lacked the energy to do so. Too many questions needed answering and Kirk knew that his crew were going to expect an explanation of some kind for basically disappearing into oblivion.

"Yeah, I gotcha," Swiftly turning his gaze to the man beside him, he set out a new command, "Mister Patel, you're in charge of the ship while I am gone."

"But Sir," another member of the crew in the room spoke up, eyeing his captain with an unsettled look. Kirk spun around to face the individual who was speaking to him, motioning for him to continue. The man visibly struggled to pursue with his speech, almost flinching slightly at the possibility of what he perceived to be. "What if it's a trap? How could it be possible to be in charge of a great federation vessel when we clearly know how powerful they are?"

Silence fell on the room again as the whole company knew exactly who the person was referring to as there was a mentioning of 'they'. Jim strode forward, looking at the Vulcan with an incredulous expression. "Spock… you're not planning on doing anything, erh, out of the ordinary, right?" He appeared to be innocently questioning the other but Kirk was well aware of the risk, thanks to a member of his crew reminding him of the possible dangers.

"Jim, I have no plans to do anything further than greet an old friend." Spock stated carefully. "Beyond that, I am interested only in the safety of the crew and the ship. You need not worry for your safety." He considered offering Kirk the option of bringing his own security, but did not. Though logically it would ease the captain’s mind, Spock was not willing to compromise the crew to do so. They were under enough stress as it was, he would not add the risk of being taken over so soon after having gained control of the Enterprise. Besides, there was always the chance Kirk would bring a team even without Spock's permission. "I will meet you in the transporter room." Spock assured him, counting on Kirk's curiosity if nothing else to bring him over without any more prompting. 

Jim felt a smirk beginning to form on his lips before turning to one of the crewmembers with a canny smile. Turning his back to the screen he stepped over towards the associate, giving the guy a quick pat on the back before eyeing the rest of the crew. His attention was brought back to the Asian officer. "I'll be counting on you to look after the crew, Mister Patel," Kirk said slowly, a serious look upon his face as the charge was now placed on the other during his absence. "Make sure that everyone is notified to what is going on and where I will be until further notice. Until then, hold tight." He knew they would be safe for the time being whilst the officer was in charge; there were only a few of them. Jim then went to prepare, inwardly reveling in the fact that he was about to reunite with his old crew again. He would have been more delighted, however, if it hadn't been for all his negative energy that was present which he had tried to mask when speaking to Spock. By this point, Jim was fed up with so many things that the main thing on his mind was to seek out more answers and gain the information he needed.

Spock placed Sulu in charge as he left the bridge, picking up two security officers on the way to the transporter and placing them outside the doors. For all that they needed every hand at critical stations, it was necessary to have them there. If Spock was proven wrong and Kirk was in fact working with, or being used by, whoever was behind Page, it was best to have a precaution. He waited in the transporter room along, the technician who usually manned the station having been needed in a more critical area of the ship.

Spock watching as Kirk materialized, somewhat pleased he’d opted to transport over alone. “Captain.” He greeted him shortly, as close to a ‘welcome home’ that Kirk could expect. “Much has happened since your reassignment. If you would accompany me, I will, as you say, ‘fill you in’.” Spock offered.

"Hey Spock," Jim replied after arrival. Being with the Vulcan in person was far better than talking to a screen and it was a nice feeling to be greeted by his colleague again. 

The two left the transporter room, pausing for a moment in the hall as Spock addressed the two security guards. 

“Precautions were necessary.” Spock explained to Kirk, knowing Jim would be curious, as he gave the two security new assignments. Spock turned to Kirk as the two redshirts left. “I regret to inform you that the enterprise, and her entire crew, have been proclaimed traitors to the federation. The reasoning behind this logic was not made clear. As it stands, what was left of the original crew of the enterprise have seized control over the ship, leaving your replacement, a man by the name of Leon Page, and his followers on the planet nearby.” Spock explained, giving the Kirk the essential information. Spock expected Jim to ask question, and was prepared to answer any that the other man had, but also had some of his own. Namely where Kirk had been that had made him so unreachable. 

The captain nodded meaningfully while listening closely to what Spock had to say. While taking the newly delivered information into account, he felt the corner of his eye twitch as a result to what was being said. Ultimately Jim was tired, angry and annoyed with the whole ordeal and now they were labeled and seen as traitors to the federation, itself. 

"What?!" he blurted, questioning in disgust. It was outrageous to think that that had happened and the officials were indefinitely going to be seeking after them. A hint of pride washed over Jim's face, however, once he heard that his original replacement had been unofficially relegated by no other than his own trusting crew. Jim knew that he could always count on them. On top of that, Spock was not one who was known to be a breaker of rules, such as a certain few he was aware of, and Jim found himself musing at the thought of the Vulcan taking control of a sorted revolution which was plausible under Kirk's eyes. If only he had been there to see how they had strategically made such things come to pass. It would have been very entertaining to have seen and he couldn't wait to hear the details, but knew that he had to return to the primary focus of their discussion.

"So, you're telling me that you got this information from Starfleet, we've been announced as traitors to the federation and that you've left this Leon guy and his henchmen on that planet back there?" Jim knew that Spock had told him that there was no legitimate clarification from Starfleet behind the reason for why they were now being senselessly targeted, but surely it had to do with the crew's opposition of their captain. Kirk scratched his head in skepticism. "They must have found out what you guys did to that bastard. How did they find out?"

Spock frowned, looking down briefly in contemplation. “Page has shown himself to be quite adept at strategy. Though it took him some time, he was able to remove all of the original bridge staff and many were even reassigned to other ships. It stands to reason that he would have had a plan for this circumstance.” A thought the Vulcan had overlooked in his preparations and execution of the mutiny. 

Though Kirk wasn't too surprised by the news but he instantly frowned and shot a glance at Spock after hearing that the staff had been messed around like that. He couldn't imagine having a better bridge crew and to suddenly change their style and reassign them was undoubtedly a big mistake and a loss to the leader in charge of the vessel. Jim's original crew were supreme in their knowledge and use of their skill and talents, making things that much substantial and Kirk couldn't think to mind of anything else more stupid than making such a move. Page had his own intentions and there was decisions clearly made off the basis of that. Kirk scrunched up his nose again in disgust as a thought came to mind of his crew members being manipulated and punished in a way that brought torment on many different levels. How had Spock been affected by all of this? There was probably more to the changes, however, as Jim had noted that there were other motives the man had such as the understandable possibility of a plan that Spock suggested to Page having.

That still didn’t explain to Spock why they’d gotten a warning from Starfleet. It would have been more effective not to send such a transmission. Perhaps there were someone at headquarters trying to correct whatever had gone wrong? “Jim, I—“

Whatever Spock was going to say next was cut off by the ships alarms, lights flashing red suddenly. He met Kirk’s eyes for a brief second, then took off at a quick jog toward the bridge. 

Jim blinked in surprised as the alarms were instantaneously sounding and he tensed, abruptly turning to the Vulcan and heading over to the bridge with him. He panted heavily as they got to the room, the muscles in his shoulders tightening ever so slightly as he looked around, calculating the situation and absorbing the scene. There were familiar faces he was able to see again and for a moment he felt a feeling of relief but now wasn't the time to dawdle on such things as their first priority was to find out the cause for the alarms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and constructive criticism welcome


	7. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My most sincere apologies. Looks like I already had this chapter completed, I have no idea why I hadn't posted it...
> 
> Thank you for the kind reviews! As predicted, it has fueled my inspiration!

As Spock stepped off the lift, he took stock of the bridge, brow furrowing in confusion.

Sulu was bent over a panel with an engineer, the only other crewman besides Bones on the bridge being the one currently at the helm. Sulu straightened, cursing. “Damn it, that’s not going help. Keep an eye on that ship.” He ordered, turning around to go back to the chair. He stopped as he saw Spock and Kirk. “Sorry I couldn’t give you a heads up, running a little shorthanded at the moment.” He explained shortly, more thorough details would have to wait for later. Right now there was a bigger issue. “Looks like someone gave Page a few too many supplies. We picked up a distress signal from the planet, and intercepted an answering signal from a federation ship. They’ll be here in less than 20 minutes.”

The ship had to have originated from the base, likely called there shortly after the attack. They would have begun searching for the Enterprise, though without any idea of their direction they wouldn’t have had much luck. Now though, they’d gotten a clear indication of where the Enterprise was located. Logically the thing to do was leave, but Sulu had thought it best to wait for Kirk to contact his ship so they wouldn’t shoot the Enterprise for trying to leave.

“Retreat is advisable. The Enterprise does not have a sufficient number of crew to successfully ward off an attack.” Spock stated. Spock knew how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to repair damage and replace any lost crew. They could not afford to engage with the Federation at this time. “However, she is at your command.” He concluded, resolving a question he’d asked himself the moment Jim had transported over.

”If the Elyon-Ui has warp we should get moving.” Sulu suggested, taking over helm once more. “We’ll need at least three minutes to get clear of the moons influence.”

"Jim," McCoy said, stating the captain's name as a form of acknowledgement rather than confusion as he saw his friend arrive. Before the doctor had a chance to say anything else, Kirk motioned with his hands that he, too, was happy to see the other.

"Hey Bones," he quickly replied, placing a quick hand on his back as he passed him, going over to Sulu and looking at the information that was coming up on the operators. His eyes flickered over to Spock as the officer had already started to give him the options and advice that would be needed in handling this situation. The captain knew that he could always count on the Vulcan to provide him with the critical information, even if the provisions were compromised of things he didn't always exactly want to hear.

His eyes narrowed in concentration as he took into mind of their predicament before casting his gaze over to the pilot. "Before you engage those thrusters, Sulu, I need you or someone to check if Elyon-Ui is, as of now, capable of warping," Jim ordered as he turned to note those who were on the bridge. Their numbers were indeed only a few and Uhura was nowhere to be seen. "Who's our communications officer?!"

”We don’t have one.” Sulu answered Kirk, moving over to navigation for a moment. “Noore tripped earlier and is out of commission. His replacement hasn’t shown up yet.” Not that Noore was really a communications officer, just had been filling that post.

Spock moved over to the comm panel, sending a quick urgent message to the Elyon-Ui. “They are capable of warp.” Spock reported once he’d received a reply. “However, hull integrity is minimal, so the ship will not be able to sustain it for very long.”

”Which means we’ll need somewhere close to hide.” Sulu commented, eyes darting over the information he’d pulled up at navigation. “There’s a nebula nearby if she can stand 7 minutes at warp.”

”I calculate a sixty percent chance at success.” Spock said after a few moments looking over the data he’d received.

Sulu paused at navigation, half glancing back at Kirk for orders. Spock had all but given him back the enterprise after all. “Captain? If you’ve got a full crew compliment onboard, we won’t have time to beam them over.”

Jim bit his lip. It was because of luck that the Elyon-Ui had the capability of warping but as Spock had said it would only be for a short period of time; the explorer vessel was barely intact as it is. Time was something that they didn't really have and could not afford to waste any more.

"Sixty percent," Kirk whispered to himself noting the figures that were given. Sixty percent was a low number and he knew very well that the federation ship that they was on its way was going to be extremely efficient with its crew and weaponry. Even if the other vessel was competent with warping, Jim had a feeling that their persecutors would have something already up their sleeve and even then the chance of success for the Enterprise and Elyon-Ui escaping were slim. The statistics were scarcely in their favor. "There are only about 20 people on that ship, Mister Sulu. Most of them from the engineering division."

He suddenly turned to the Vulcan. "Spock, how long would it take to beam them over here?"

Spock paused for a moment, tilting his head as he calculated. “Approximately six minutes thirty seven seconds, Captain. This would leave us with eight minutes twenty three seconds before the Federation ship arrives.”

After hearing this Jim then rapidly turned to the pilot. "Does that give us enough time for you to warp us out of here before they see us?" It was important that they could leave before the Federation ship had a chance to attack them. They may have located and have knowledge of their present whereabouts, but this did not stop the Enterprise from taking the chance to bolt out of the sector.

Sulu turned back to navigation, double checking to figures and course heading. “It’ll be tight, but we can make it.” He assured Kirk, moving back to helm in preparation. “Standing by.”

Spock, anticipating the logical conclusion of the captain’s thought, sent message to the Elyon-Ui to prepare to beam aboard the Enterprise. “A Mister Patel is hailing, requesting orders as to what should be done with the Elyon-Ui upon being abandoned.” Spock could not offer any advice to Kirk on this. The ship would cause a diversion should it remain intact, but Spock had no knowledge of what kind of information was stored in the ships databanks. “Crew transfer is currently underway Captain.” Spock stated after a few moments, receiving confirmation of the first of Kirk’s new crew arriving safely onboard. “Shall I put Mister Patel on screen?”

Jim nodded, "Do it, Mister. Spock." Not soon after Jim had relayed the order it was apparent that the other vessel's external transmitters were in good shape as his associate almost immediately appeared on screen. Kirk let out a quick sigh of relief and quickly made haste to engage in conversation as time was running out. Leaving Patel in charge of the helm and other members of the USS Elyon-Ui crew had been a wise decision but he hadn't anticipated the need to make a sudden transition, until now.

"Captain, what is to be done of the aircraft? A few of us are awaiting the final orders before we transfer, Sir," Patel exclaimed after their hailing had been a success. The officer understood that the resources on the ship were close to nothing and weren't a need for concern in regards to the transfer but he was worried about one thing in particular. "Is it necessary to abandon this ship?"

Scratching the top of his head while looking to the floor and feeling a sense of exasperation, Kirk returned his gaze to the other with almost a blank expression. He was tempted to roll his eyes albeit the gesture was not necessarily personally aimed at the other crewmember. "Not even a maximum phaser strike would be needed to decimate the Elyon-Ui. Despite showing no sign of resistance; they are on their way and they _will_ destroy you."

If there was a chance to save the explorer vessel, Kirk would. Starfleet had enough material on their hands and allowing an abandoned ship to stay here was practically giving more stockpiles to their oppressors.

"The ship's force fields could not withhold their strikes from the exterior… even with full remaining strength and an able-bodied crew," he continued repeatedly dismissing the thought of trying to plan means of a counterattack. From the sound of it the USS Enterprise was scraping by as far as crewmembers were concerned. What had this Page guy done? Finished his entire crew off?

"Jim, you seriously aren't thinking of letting the ship just randomly float along space, are you?" McCoy asked as he stepped forward engaging in the conversation. He looked at Kirk with a doubtful look upon his face before casting a fleetingly gaze over to Spock for some logical support. The doctor saw it unfit for a decision such as this to be made without deeply, thought-out rational reasoning beforehand. He understood Jim's intentions in saving the other crew but a large metallic-looking structure drifting across the sector was inconceivable to any one's eye.

As Patel awaited further response from the captain, all eyes were now on Kirk and as always, the pressure was on him as expected for a captain. Jim's eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated the comments, catching McCoy's glance to Spock, before turning to the trusted Vulcan for input.

"Opinion, Mister. Spock?" Jim hurriedly asked, hoping Spock would give him a few last valid words of advice before carrying out with his intended plan.

Spock paused for a short moment before speaking, getting his thoughts in order. “Leaving the ship intact will allow the Enterprise more time to escape as it is likely our pursuers will take the time to search the Elyon-Ui and its database. The vessel would then be brought back to Starfleet,” He stated, eyes moving briefly to McCoy as he addressed the doctor’s one voiced concern. “Which would leave fewer crew aboard the pursuing ship. Simply initiating the self-destruct would provide a minimal diversion and keep any information you had gathered from Page’s men.”

Spock spoke quickly, knowing that time was limited. Already the transfer was nearly complete, and Sulu was beginning to shift at the helm, eyeing the ticking time nervously.

"Then it's settled," Jim muttered before quickly turning his attention to Patel who was still on-screen. "Mister. Patel, make sure you get yourself and the rest of the crew transported over here as soon as possible… which means now! Go, go!" After the captain issued his orders, Patel and the remaining crewmembers made haste in their transition. If there were any information on the ship that could be of use for Starfleet, it was too late to eliminate that surviving evidence. Sparing lives were crucial at this point and Kirk couldn't think of anything that the Federation could use to help assist them in getting more information than what they already had and knew now.

Blue hues now turned to the Vulcan. "Spock, report back to me after _every_ crewmember from that ship are on-board the Enterprise. I don't want us leaving until I know that they're all on, understood?" He gave Spock a buoyant smile, having raised his voice loud enough for Sulu to also hear before going over to where the pilot was situated. "Sulu, What's the status?"

”Eight minutes left and counting, sir.” Sulu replied, shaking his head a little. The delay in deciding what would happen to the other ship had cut into their time. They could still make it, but he would prefer a nice little buffer of time in between their departure and their pursuers’ arrival. “I’ll keep us in transporter range, but I’m going to start moving us around her.” He said, glancing back at Kirk for approval before typing quickly on the panel in front of him, prompting the Enterprise into motion.

They had just ducked around the other ship when Spock spoke up. “Captain, the transfer is complete. All personnel have beamed aboard the enterprise.” He rose, moving to stand by Kirk as Sulu brought them around the moons.

”We’ll be clear in thirty seconds captain. Our heading is 316-mark-750. We’ll arrive at the nebula is approximately minutes.” Sulu reported, giving Kirk a bit of a heads up in case he wanted to make a change to their course. Otherwise, Sulu was going to get to that nebula and park it. If for no other reason than to give them some time to rest before they had to start running again.


	8. Insider

Two weeks.

Two weeks of hiding is this nebula, blind and deaf to what was happening outside of this blank, sensor resistant cloud of dust.

It had been two weeks since James T. Kirk had gotten his ship back, and the Enterprise branded a traitor to the Federation.

Jim couldn’t help but wonder what had happened while he’d been gone. He’d only been out of touch for a few months, but the change in his crew was drastic. Half of his original bridge crew and senior officers were no longer stationed on the enterprise, and those who’d remained were not in the best of conditions. Bones had looked like death warmed over; pushed so far past his point of exhaustion that Kirk had been honestly shocked and impressed that the man had still been on his feet when he had boarded the Enterprise. After they’d got out of danger it had taken no time at all to convince Bones to get some rest. He hadn’t even complained.

And Sulu… He’d been in better physically, but when Kirk had gone to clap the man on the shoulder once the pilot had successfully parked them in the nebula, the man had flinched. Flinched! Sure, Sulu had laughed it off, but the reaction had still been there.

Jim’s jaw clenched, one hand fisted tightly over one knee as he stared unseeing at the data PADD in his other hand. He’d assumed his crew had been in for a difficult time, but this? Even Spock’s shoulders had the slightest slump to them. For all that Spock had explained to Kirk how he, as a Vulcan, required less rest than humans, Kirk could tell that even he’d reached his limit.

And Jim had been powerless to help. After his demotion, which had been little more than three Starfleet generals sitting him down and telling him he’d been reassigned, he had been ordered to board a shuttle immediately. He had no chance to speak to the crew, or even give any farewells to his friends. He’d been escorted to the shuttle bay, loaded up and shipped off like a piece of cargo. It was by pure chance he got out of that one. And after that it was the best he could do just getting further out of Federation territory.

After McCoy had gotten some rest, there had been a short little argument over the trustworthiness of Kirk’s newly acquired crew, bare bones though they were as well. Sulu had also hinted at concerns of his own, so Kirk called both of them, plus Spock, together, filling them in on all the details from his demotion all the way through running into the Enterprise. In any case, they deserved to know what with all the crap they’d had to put up with under Page.

The people he’d found and taken over the Elyon-Ui with had a similar story, though on a much smaller scale, to what was happening in the Federation. From the stories they told, and what he understood of what had transpired, it was frighteningly similar to their predicament. And that had ended in their government and people whittling down to nothing and scattering across space. He’d researched it, of course, only coming up with it was more or less true, though not who was behind it.

Kirk sighed, he ran a hand down his face as he put the PADD down, giving up on reading it right now. He couldn’t concentrate on the status reports, he’d already read them over twice anyway, and he really needed to get his thoughts in order. He leaned back in the chair, looking around at the crew on the bridge. Most of them were from the Elyon-Ui. The last two weeks had given Enterprise crew some time to rest, though they were still severely short-handed and everyone was pulling double duty. He’d given the senior staff (namely Bones, Sulu, Spock, and Patel) an extra few hours today, seeing as they had a meeting scheduled. They needed to come up with a plan. The meeting was scheduled to start soon, so Kirk got up, nodding at one of the crew as she came to take his place.

He’d decided to use the room Page had designated for meetings. It beat debated things out in the middle of the bridge, and it had any and every kind of equipment they might need for strategizing. Patel was leaning against the door waiting for him, and Jim gave him a grin.

They didn’t get a chance to exchange words, as not a moment later Sulu and McCoy stepped off the turbo lift, McCoy complaining gruffly about something, Spock a step behind them. Good they were all here then, they could get started. Kirk led the way into the conference room.

“Alright, repairs of the Enterprise are complete, and the crew are about as rested as they’re gonna get.” He began, leaning his elbows on the table. “Sickbays back to normal.” He glanced over at McCoy briefly, the man nodding once in agreement, before continuing. “We can’t just sit here in this nebula forever, and I wanted to get some input on what our next move should be. I think our first priority should be getting the crew back. And Mister Spock has some idea of how that might be possible.” Jim finished, glancing at Spock for him to take over.

Spock gave Kirk a short nod before glancing around at the four of them. “After analyzing the final transmission received from Starfleet headquarters prior to our departure from the base, I am positive that the individual who sent it is none other than Nyota Uhura.”

McCoy’s brow furrowed, slightly disbelieving scowl on his face.

Spock lifted one eyebrow before continuing. “I am unable to confirm this, as the nebula blocks all transmissions. But I am confident that, once outside the influence of the nebula, I can contact headquarters undetected.”

“That’s _if_ it really was Lt. Uhura.” Bones growled out, frowning.

“Even if it was Uhura. What are the chances she wasn’t caught sending that?” Sulu said, gesturing helpless with one hand.

Kirk stood up, halting the discussion before it could degrade any further. “If anyone could have gotten a message off and made it out, it would Uhura.” He said confidently. “We go forward under the assumption that Uhura is still in at Starfleet. We plan from there. We can revise things later if we find out it wasn’t her, or she’s had to get out.” He wasn’t going to suggest she might have been caught. They’d all be thinking it, it made no sense to voice it. He shot Spock a look, not wanting the Vulcan to point it out either.

“You want to get collect the old crew, guess Uhura’s a good place to start.” McCoy suggested.

“On the contrary doctor.” Spock disagreed. “I believe it would be of greater benefit to have Uhura remain at headquarter. If she is not suspect, she would be in an ideal position to assist us in locating the absent bridge crew.”

“Are you outta your mind?” McCoy exclaimed as he sat forward, incredulous at the suggestion.

Sulu glanced around uneasily, brow furrowed. “I get that Lt. Uhura being at HQ would be a great tactical benefit, but isn’t that a bit too risky?”

Kirk answered, shaking his head at that. “Not any riskier than us trying to pull her out, then flying around blind looking for everyone else.”

The room fell silent at that, the truth in that statement making them all think for a moment. Patel spoke up, breaking the silence. “This ship is at its fullest capacity. If we break from the nebula, a message could be sent to this Uhura. We can set a course for Starfleet while we wait for a response.”

Kirk nodded, catching what the man was getting toward. “And if it is Nyota, we can find out her status, and if she needs help, we’ll make plan. Hopefully, she won’t have been discovered, and she can dig up some information about where Chekov and Scotty are. They're likely somewhere is Federation space, so we shouldn't have to worry about backtracking if it takes Uhura some time to send a reply undetected.”

What, exactly, they were going to do after that… Jim hadn’t quite gotten there yet. Right now, he just wanted his crew back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit shorter of a chapter, but it seemed a good place to stop. So I stopped.
> 
> Update (1/26/17): I'm definitely going to be redoing this chapter. I don't like it... So if you read it, just think of it as a sneak preview I guess?


End file.
